A Trip to the Unknown
by StealMyShow
Summary: It's Lily Luna Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts in the year 2020, and all Hogwarts students have to relocate to Panem to stay safe, but no one expected to witness the first ever Hunger Games. You don't really have to know about the Hunger Games to read it. Enjoy! :D
1. History of Panem

A long time ago, in December of the year 2013 in a land called North America, there were many natural disasters. This broke up the country called the United States into five provinces—North, Northeast, Central, West, and South.

Each province was plagued by different natural disasters. Northeast suffered from hurricanes. West had earthquakes. North had nonstop blizzards. Central had many tornadoes, and South was full of dust storms. Hawaii, the only part of America that was safe from these disasters, had broken off from the United States and became an independent country.

Once the natural disasters had mostly subsided, the president, who at the time was Bartholomew Cornish, decided to unite five provinces into one country, which was called Panem.

In autumn of 2013, Panem was broken up into thirteen districts surrounding the Capitol; their locations were based on geography. The Capitol was moved from the Northeast area to the center of Panem. Each district was known for developing different products. District 2 trained people to become Peacekeepers, which were once known as policemen in the United States. District 12 mined for coal. District 13 developed nuclear technology. District 3 produced technology.

In the year 2018, District 13 had had enough with the Capitol and rebelled. However, the Capitol's defenses were too strong for the District. The Capitol bombed District 13 and all of that district's residents are believed to have been killed.

To punish the districts for revolting against the Capitol, in 2020, the president of Panem declared the first-ever Hunger Games.

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**I wrote this about a year ago, along with a few more chapters, and I'm finally putting them on here! I'll update it every few days or so, but I'm usually pretty busy. I might not be able to update it as much as I'd like, but I will try!**

******I know it doesn't seem like a crossover right now, but this is sort of the prologue, and it'll become a crossover in the next few chapters.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated!**

**Thanks for reading! :D**


	2. The Potters in 2020

"Lily, are you ready yet?" Ginny yelled upstairs at her daughter. "We have to be at the train station in an hour. You don't want to be late for your first day of school!" Being the only daughter in a large family, Ginny inherited the Burrow, which is where she grew up and where her three children would also grow up.

"Mom, I'll be fine," she shouted back. "I just need to finish doing my hair!"

"You don't want to be late. It would set a bad example for first-year students."

"I should look my best. I _need_ time to style my hair! Especially on the first day. Besides, it's not like I'm a prefect or anything."

"Oh, I guess you're right," Ginny admitted, but she still was not pleased. It took almost an hour to get to King's Cross Station, and Albus and James were waiting for their sister to get ready.

"Mom, make her get ready faster. I'm tired of waiting. I just want to get there already and finish seventh year already so I can be an Auror like Dad," James complained.

Harry, their father, replied, "You can't just expect to get a year done and become an Auror. You need to learn so you can be prepared for anything. As an Auror, this is the most important thing. You can't just finish school and get a job. You have to actually _know_ about it."

"I know, Dad. You've told me twenty times before," James replied. Finally Lily came downstairs, her auburn hair perfectly curled. "It took over an hour to do _that_?" James remarked.

"You would understand if you were a girl," Lily retorted as she started to walk out to the car.

"Good thing its not a flying car like your grandfather had," Harry remarked. Ginny chuckled, remembering how it got destroyed in the Whomping Willow.

Albus was in awe of his father. "Grandpa Arthur had a flying car? How come you've never told us about it?"

"Yeah!" said James. "Tell us!"

Harry started his story. "You know, for a sixth and a seventh year, you sound really immature, but I'll tell you anyway. When your Uncle Ron and I were in second year, we missed the Hogwarts Express. The only way we could think to get to school was to borrow Grandpa Arthur's flying invisible car. When we got to Hogwarts, we crashed into the Whomping Willow. The car was destroyed, and Uncle Ron's wand was snapped in half." The boys stared in awe at their father.

"Wow, can we have a flying car, too?" Albus asked.

"I bet I could beat the Whomping Willow in my _first_ year," said James.

Harry laughed. "Of course not. That was just us being immature," Harry said, looking at his wife, who gave him a smile.

"Come on, let's go! We're going to be late!" Ginny hurried them along, and they all got into the car and started driving. When they were on the highway, almost to King's Cross Station, the unthinkable happened.

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**I wrote this about a year ago, along with a few more chapters, and I'm finally putting them on here! I'll update it every few days or so, but I'm usually pretty busy. I might not be able to update it as much as I'd like, but I will try!**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated!**

**Thanks for reading! :D**


	3. News from Hogwarts

Suddenly, a loud thundering boom was heard far behind the car. Ginny turned around. "Oh… Oh…" She was in so much shock that she couldn't even finish the sentence.

The kids followed her eyes to see what she was looking at; Lily screamed.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"There's… There's a… There's a… It's…" Lily stammered as se tried to tell her dad. Harry, seeing the commotion it had caused other people, pulled over and looked behind him.

Planes, flying overhead, had dropped a bomb on a major government building, which was in flames. Harry started the car again and said, "I need to get you out of here. It's too dangerous." He sped down the highway and soon arrived at King's Cross Station.

"Sorry, sir," a muggle policeman said to the Potter family as they got out of the car. "The station is too dangerous to enter. All trains have been cancelled." Harry saw that this too had been hit by a bomb. The ones dropping the bomb were trying to hit the most important buildings to cause as much terror as possible.

Lily started sobbing to her parents. "Does that mean that we won't go to Hogwarts this year? I don't want to miss school! I want to see all my friends and all my favorite teachers."

The Weasley family used side-along apparition to get to the station and appeared a minute later with burn marks on their skin. "What happened to you guys?" asked a concerned Ginny.

Hermione replied, "We apparated into the station right as the bombs hit."

"Why can't we apparate into the station like they do?" Albus interrupted.

"Albus, don't whine! You're sixteen!" Ginny scolded. "We might startle people in the station if we apparated. We try to blend in with the muggles." She turned to Hermione. "I'm very sorry about that. Continue."

Hermione resumed her story. "There was no way to get out of the station without getting burned. People were frantic. They were screaming, running everywhere. It was so frightening."

"Oh I'm so sorry for you guys! I'm just glad you're okay now," Ginny comforted.

Lily broke the silence. "But what about Hogwarts? We're still going this year, right?"

James asked, "What about the bombings? Why would anyone do that?"

A nearby muggle heard him and replied, "District 13 rebelled against the Capitol of Panem. These are from the Capitol in an attempt to stop them. They just want to show people what they can do to prevent anything like this from ever happening again. They want show people the power that they have over everyone in the world so that no district ever rebels against them again."

"That makes sense," Hugo, Ron's son, said.

Suddenly, two owls flew overhead and dropped two letters, one for the Weasleys and one for the Potters.

Rose, Ron's daughter, caught one and exclaimed, "It's from Hogwarts!" She then proceeded to read it aloud. The letter read:

_"Dear Weasley family,_

_"Due to recent happenings, this school year has been rescheduled to keep people safer. More information will come as soon as it is available._

_"Thank you,_

_"Minerva McGonagall_

_"Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."_

Everyone was shocked. Lily was the first to speak. "Well, at least school isn't cancelled. We should just wait now and see what happens."

"Come one everyone," Ginny said. "Let's all go to the Burrow. It's probably safest because it's in the middle of nowhere. No person in their right mind would destroy a place like that when they could be going for big cities."

"I agree. We should go there before things get worse," Ron replied.

Within a few minutes, everyone was in the kitchen of the Burrow, drinking tea and eating cookies. They stayed there for a few hours, waiting for news, when Hermione spoke to the Potters, "It's too dangerous to go back home when the bombs are still being dropped on major cities. Is it okay if we stayed overnight?"

"Of course, Hermione! We have more spare bedrooms than we need," Harry answered.

"Thank you so much! I'll apparate home and get everyone's luggage," Hermione thankfully responded.

"No you can't do that!" Her husband stopped her. "It's too dangerous. I'll go myself."

"Oh thank you, Ron. Hurry back! Stay safe!" Within a few minutes, he returned with his family's overnight luggage, and they all got ready to go to bed.

The next morning, after everyone woke up, an owl arrived to deliver the Daily Prophet. The front page said, "The bombs are over, or are they?" Hermione read the article out loud to both families.

"The Capitol of Panem has agreed to stop bombing. The Capitol has destroyed District 13. However, there is still a threat that District 13 still exists underground. Because District 13 develops nuclear technology, there is a slight chance that the bombings could resume. Many people are convinced that District 13 will show the Capitol of its power and bomb other countries, which is what the Capitol has been doing. There is no way of knowing when, but it is possible. I encourage you to do all you can to keep yourselves as safe as possible."

"How peculiar," Ginny said. "At least it's over."

"For now," Ron replied.

Two barn owls flew in through the window, dropping letters on the kitchen table. Albus caught one and read it out loud. It said,

_"Dear Potter family,_

_"The bombs are over as far as we know. We would never want school to be cancelled. The safest thing to do now is to relocate. The wizard government of Panem has agreed to let us join the Panem School of Magic in District 12. Every student is required to move to Panem. Their families may also move to District 12, but they must receive special permission from the government of District 12. The rebellion has stopped in Panem because the Capitol's forces are too strong. However, that never stops people from threatening other places to show the force that they can do. This is the safest thing that we can do. All Hogwarts students must meet in Diagon Alley at eleven A.M. tomorrow to travel to Panem together. This means that school will be ending three days later than originally scheduled to make up for the lost time. Thank you for your time._

_"Sincerely,_

_"Minerva McGonagall_

_"Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."_

"I guess it's safe," says Hermione, "but that would be one of the last things I would guess they would do. Let's pack so we can be prepared tomorrow morning."

The kids packed and went on with their day. They finally fell asleep late at night, nervous about the trip to a foreign country.

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**Sorry this chapter's kind of long. The next ones will be shorter, but not too short. I'll try to add another chapter in a few days.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated! ****Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	4. Diagon Alley

The night passed quickly. Everyone was so nervous that they woke up by seven o'clock, barely ready to move across the ocean, but by the time they packed, it was almost eleven.

"Let's use Floo powder. It's the safest and fastest way to Diagon Alley, and you're too young to Apparate," Harry told the children. Both families headed toward the fireplace. Harry was the first to demonstrate. "Have you ever used Floo Powder?" he asked the Weasleys. He knew his own children use it often, but Rose and Hugo both shook their heads. "Take a small handful of powder." He gestured toward a small bowl on the mantel, took a handful, and walked into the fireplace. "Then say where you want to go, which is 'Diagon Alley' in this case, and drop the powder into the fireplace. Be sure to say it clearly, though. I made that mistake when I was about twelve, and it didn't turn out well."

Harry followed his own instructions, saying "Diagon Alley" loud and clear. Lily, Albus, and James followed, setting an example for the Weasley kids, who were next. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were last, and they found their families waiting for them, standing with many other Hogwarts students and their families.

"Well, if it isn't Potter and his little family," Draco Malfoy sneered at Harry. "What type of name is Albus, anyway? He was the worst headmaster this school has ever seen. What about you, Hermione? Are you still as much of a nerd as you were in school?"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Ron defended his wife as he nudged her away from Draco.

Draco turned around, grabbed his son Scorpius' arm, and walked toward other Slytherin families. Scorpius gave Lily an apologetic look right before he was dragged off. Lily smiled at him before she turned toward her own family.

The clock tower chimed eleven o'clock, and Professor McGonagall headed to the front of the crowd. She whispered a spell into her wand so it would act like a microphone, spreading her voice over the crowd.

"Attention Hogwarts students," she said. Her voice was booming as though there were speakers throughout Diagon Alley. "You all received a letter stating that Hogwarts will not be your school this year. You will be relocated to District 12 in Panem. You will be attending Panem School of Magic, commonly referred to as Panem Magic. You will attend school with witches and wizards who live in Panem, so please respect them and their school. You will use portkeys to go to the school. First years, follow me. Everyone else, follow your house leader."

All the students went their ways; the Potter and Weasley families followed the Gryffindor students, and the Malfoy family followed the Slytherin students.

Once the houses had split up, Professor Neville Longbottom, the Hogwarts herbology teacher and Gryffindor head of house, spoke to the group of Gryffindor students in front of him. "You may be wondering how we will get across the ocean and into District 12. Everyone will use portkeys. Hurry up, now. We only have a few minutes until they will transport us."

"Bye, Mom, I'll miss you," Rose said to Hermione.

"I'll miss you too, both of you. Write back often, and visit during Christmas if you can," she replied to her children as she gave them a big hug. Throughout the alley, other parents, including the Potters and the Malfoys, were also saying goodbye to their children with much hugging and crying.

After everyone had said their farewells, Neville then proceeded to hand out one portkey for every group of about ten students each, the other house leaders doing the same. Within minutes, groups of people started disappearing.

Lily teamed up with her brothers, James and Albus, her cousins, Rose and Hugo, and some of their friends to take the portkey that was handed to them, an empty metal can. They all held on, and within a minute, they were transported to Panem.

As they were transported, they had a strong spinning sensation as their bodies were being instantaneously moved across the Atlantic Ocean. They arrived in the clearing of a forest just outside of District 12. Each group arrived in a different part of the clearing, and the United Kingdom Minister of Magic collaborated with the Panem Minister of Magic to place several wizard guards around the boundary of the arrival place to avoid suspicious muggles and to ensure that the students arrived safely.

After all the students were transported to Panem, the teachers apparated to Panem to accompany their students in starting school in a new country.

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**I'll try to add the next chapter in a few days.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated! ****Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	5. Welcome to Panem School of Magic

It took several minutes for all of the students to settle down from their trip. Once they had, Professor McGonagall made an announcement. "Everyone please separate into your houses. Gryffindor students please go to the left." She pointed in front of her to the left. "Hufflepuffs, please go here." She pointed ahead, slightly to the left. "Ravenclaws, please go here." She pointed in front of her, slightly to the right. "Slytherin students, please go to the right." She pointed far to the right. "House teachers, prefects, and head boys and girls, please see that this happens."

It took several more minutes for this to happen because of the multitude of Hogwarts students, but they eventually calmed down. McGonagall spoke again. "I would like to introduce you to the Panem Minister of Magic, Mr. Robert Smithson," she said, gesturing to a wrinkly old man with a dark gray comb over. She continued, "and the headmaster of the Panem School of Magic, Professor Albert Tuffin," she told them, motioning to a tall man with short white hair under a navy blue pointed hat. "They have kindly agreed to let you students study at the Panem School of Magic this year because of the horrible things that have been happening in the United Kingdom and because there is a threat that they might happen again. Mr. Smithson and Professor Tuffin have worked with the muggle president of Panem to make this possible, but he could not be here because of a previous engagement, but we would like to thank him as well. The students at this school started their school year on September 1, the same day that Hogwarts starts each year. You will sleep in dorms with the students from Panem and eat with them, but you will not be taking classes with them. Hogwarts teachers will be teaching only Hogwarts students in some spare classrooms in the school. Please respect their school. If you do not, it will result in detention, suspension, or expulsion. Now please follow Mr. Smithson, Professor Tuffin, and me to the Panem School of Magic." Everyone was excited about the new school year as the few hundred students followed McGonagall to the school.

The Panem School of Magic was larger than normal to accommodate for all of the extra students, and it resembled a castle, but it was no Hogwarts. The towers of the castle were several stories high, and there was a courtyard out front where students could hang out in their free time. The whole thing was surrounded by a ten-foot fence. It had a large pair of iron gates in the front that opened up to a path leading up to the front doors of the school. Although more students could fit inside, it covered less land than Hogwarts.

With a flick of McGonagall's wand, the front gates and the front doors flew open, and the Hogwarts students followed her into the building. They walked into what the Panem students called the Dining Hall. The ceiling was not enchanted, unlike Hogwarts. There were two long tables with a staff table at the end of the tables. The students from Panem were not sitting there because in this time zone, it was still very early in the morning, and they were asleep. The students sat down at the tables, and Professor McGonagall and Professor Tuffin walked to the front to speak to them.

Professor Tuffin was a very quirky man. Some people say that he was borderline crazy. He was a very smart and experienced wizard, but he had little common sense. He always acted as if he drank too much coffee but was trying to control it, and he often laughed awkwardly at inappropriate times. If he had a past life, he would have been a rabbit. He was always very jittery and twitchy. He spoke to the students. "Now, students, there is a board at the back of the Dining Hall, ha ha, where we have posted which dorm you will be staying in and with whom you will be staying." Several of the students started standing up to look at the board. "Hey, you shouldn't get up yet," Professor Tuffin continued. "I still have more announcements! Listen up, please! Because of the time difference, it's about five-thirty in the morning here, so the students will not be up and moving until almost eight, which is when we have breakfast. Until then, feel free to explore the school grounds, but do not go beyond the fence. There will be consequences, and, it could be dangerous, ha ha. Also, do not go into the dorm areas, which are in the far east tower for boys and the far west wing for girls, until eight o'clock because they are still sleeping, and we wouldn't want to disrupt their slumber. Now ta-ta to you all lovely Brits, and enjoy your early morning!"

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**Note: Mr. Smithson and Professor Tuffin are my OC's.**

**I'll try to add the next chapter in a few days.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	6. Exploring the School

For the next two-and-a-half hours, everyone from Hogwarts was buzzing about their new school for the year. They found out which dorms they were staying in. The students were wandering around the castle, figuring out where everything is. Around six in the morning, Lily and Rose stumbled upon a small door in a dark, empty back hallway on the second floor.

"What's this?" Lily wondered. She opened the door, and inside they found one of the largest libraries they had ever seen, about the same size as the one at Hogwarts. There were a hundred shelves full of books, and each shelf was at least thirty feet tall. Two chandeliers hung from the ceiling, one at the front and one at the back.

"Wow," said Rose. "My mom would love this!"

"I know!" replied Lily. "There must be ten thousand books in here."

"I bet there are a hundred thousand."

"I bet you're right."

"We should bring Hugo here! He reads nonstop, I'm telling you."

"Oh, I believe it," said Lily. "He's had at least one book with him every time I've seen him."

They ran back to find Hugo. They found him reading "Hogwarts, a History" while sitting in the Dining Hall. "Hugo!" shouted Rose. "Hugo, you have to see this!"

"What is it, Rose?" he replied.

Lily was panting and very out of breath. She replied, "We found… the library."

Hugo immediately jumped up at the news. "Really?" he exclaimed. "Is it like the one back home?"

"It's about… the same size… as the one… at Hogwarts."

"Well, where is it?"

"Come on, I'll show you!" Rose said, giving Lily a chance to catch her breath.

"I'll just… wait here… and rest… for a while," Lily told them.

"Okey dokey!" Rose replied.

She and Hugo hurried off to go to the library. When they got there, she opened the door, and Hugo gasped and almost dropped his book. "This is amazing!" he said. "It would take centuries for me to read all of these! Thank you, Rose!" He gave her a big hug, which took her by surprise, and then turned around to start walking into the library to look at the books.

Rose left Hugo to look at the books they had, and she and Lily continued exploring the building.

Later, around six-thirty that morning, Albus and James started discovering the building on their own. They had found where their classrooms were and discovered what dorm they were going to be staying in. They were making their way back to the Dining Hall to wait for breakfast when they passed Scorpius Malfoy talking to his friends. They heard him say something about a Quidditch pitch. James turned to Albus and said, "Wait, this school has a Quidditch pitch? We have to find it." He turned around and started speed walking in the opposite direction.

"James, wait for me!" Albus called. James ran out the front door and into the courtyard, and Albus followed closely behind.

"What? Where is it?" James wondered out loud. All he could see was grass and then the fence and front gate.

"Maybe," Albus said, "is it around the back?"

"We have to find it. I can't go a year without Quidditch, especially my last year at school!"

Albus and James followed the perimeter of the fence around the building, but they only saw small patches of grass and the courtyard at the front. They didn't even see a Quidditch pitch outside the fence.

"This is horrible!" said Albus.

"No Quidditch? This is horrible. I might have to drop school and graduate a year later."

"You can't do that! Dad would be so mad at you."

"He told me that he didn't go to Hogwarts during his seventh year."

"That was because Death Eaters were controlling the school. This is different."

"Okay fine," said James. "Let's just go back."

Albus and James went back inside. When they were inside, one of James' friends ran up to him holding a racing broom and said "Hey, James, Albus, do you guys want to play some Quidditch? We still have an hour before breakfast."

"There's a Quidditch pitch?" James replied.

"Yeah, you didn't see it?"

"No, I didn't! Just a second. Let me get my broom." James ran back to his luggage and came back with his and Albus' brooms. They were led to a large set of double doors in the back of the main floor. When they opened the doors, they found a large Quidditch pitch with stands on all sides, but it was different from the one at Hogwarts in only one way. It was an indoor Quidditch pitch.

"This is weird," said James.

"So weird," said Albus.

"What are you guys waiting for?" their friend said, running onto the field. "Come on, let's play!"

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**I wrote this one pretty quickly, and sorry if it's not as plot-filled as the other chapters. I'll try to add the next chapter in a few days.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	7. First Day of School

By 7:45 that morning, the Hogwarts students were hungry and impatient, waiting for the school day to finally start, but the Panem students had not woken up yet. Suddenly, everyone heard an announcement from Professor Tuffin booming throughout the school. "Everyone please come to the Dining Hall by eight o'clock this morning to welcome the students from Hogwarts. Thank you." When he stopped talking, the Hogwarts students were excited to start the year, but the Panem students were just waking up, groggy and grumpy.

"I'm so excited!" Lily said to Rose. "I can't wait to start classes and meet the students here. This is going to be so exciting!"

"I know!" Rose replied. "I wonder what the students are like, but I'm glad that we won't have class with them because I don't know if they're learning all the same things, and the teachers might teach differently, but I'm excited to eat with them and share a dorm with them."

Slowly but surely, Panem students started trickling into the Dining Hall, wearing their dark blue school robes. Most of them seemed too tired to even notice that they were sitting next to people that they didn't know. By eight, all the students from both schools were sitting at the two long tables in the Dining Hall.

Professor Tuffin started speaking to all of them. "Good morning, students, and welcome to all the students who came all the way from Hogwarts! As I told the Hogwarts students earlier, you will not be in classes with students or teachers from the other school. They will simply use some of our spare classrooms to continue with their academic journey, but you will eat meals together and share dorms with each other. Now, to meet the students that you don't know, we will play a little icebreaker game before breakfast!"

The older Panem students rolled their eyes and groaned, and the younger students got really exited for a game. The Hogwarts students, especially the oldest ones, just looked at each other with confused looks. They were all probably thinking, "An icebreaker game? McGonagall would never do this. He's a _headmaster_, for Pete's sake. This is really lame."

Professor Tuffin continued. "Everyone break up into groups of ten, and then I will explain the rules!" He seemed more excited to watch them play than most of the students.

Rose, Hugo, and Lily joined a group of about seven Panem students. James and Albus were in a group with their friends with whom they played Quidditch earlier and a few students from Panem. After several minutes, everyone was split up into a group, and the staff members from both schools were bunched together into one big group. "Everyone introduce yourselves to the other people in your group by saying your first name and an adjective that starts with the same letter as your name! Then go around the circle once or twice creating a story one word at a time! It will be spectacular!"

After fifteen minutes of painfully lame introductions and stories, Professor Tuffin talked to them again. "Now that you know each other properly, let's eat some breakfast now!" He snapped his fingers, and at once, the tables were filled with plates of pancakes, waffles, fruit, sausage, bacon, and every delicious breakfast food. People left their groups as fast as they could and sat down at the nearest table. They were eating twenty minutes after they were supposed to, and the Hogwarts students hadn't eaten anything for hours.

After breakfast, they went to their classes. These were the first classes of the day for the Hogwarts students, but the Panem students had had a few days of school already.

Rose, Albus, and the rest of the sixth-year Gryffindor students started with charms, transfiguration, and herbology before lunch. Hugo, Lily, and the other fourth-year students had astronomy, muggle studies, and care of magical creatures before lunch. James and the other seventh-years had history of magic and double potions.

During lunch, Lily and Rose ate with someone that they had quickly bonded with during the game earlier. Her name was Audrey Quinnid. They told her about the houses at Hogwarts, and she said that she would probably be in Ravenclaw. She was known for getting the highest grades in her year, and she never missed a question during class. Then she told them about her school. They didn't have houses. They were just assigned their dorm room and class schedule without any thought to what their personality was like.

After lunch, Rose and Lily went their separate ways to their next classes. After a long day of catching up on their studies, they joined Audrey at dinner. Then they did homework for a few hours before going to bed. They discovered that Rose and Lily shared a dorm with Audrey! Hugo discovered that one of the people whom he shared a dorm with also loved to read, and James and Albus were with the top Quidditch player. This year truly could not be going better.

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**Once again, this chapter isn't as plot-filled as some of the other chapters, but I wrote it pretty quickly. I'll try to add the next chapter in a few days.**

**Audrey Quinnid and Professor Tuffin are OC's.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	8. Argument at Lunch

The next day at lunch, Scorpius Malfoy came walked up to Lily. "Is anyone sitting here?" he asked her, gesturing to the seat next to her.

"No," she said, avoiding eye contact.

Professor Tuffin made food appear on the table, and Lily started eating in silence, pretending that Scorpius wasn't there. Scorpius said, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"You didn't talk to me yesterday. _At all_."

"What's the big deal about that? I was busy. We didn't even have any classes together."

She put down her fork and turned to face him. "We passed each other in the halls like ten times. We even made eye contact a few times, but you didn't even say hi or wave or smile at me or anything. Sure, we don't have classes together, but I _know_ you could see me from where you were sitting at breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. How hard would it be to walk by and say hi to me? Not hard at all."

"I'm sorry, I just—"

"Rose isn't my best friend because she's my cousin. _You_ were my best friend last year, you know that? I know I'm not your best friend, but you're mine." Tears started forming in Lily's eyes.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I never wanted to! Why would I ever hurt you?"

"Then why didn't you say hi to me in the hallway?"

"I don't know. I was talking to my friends—"

"Your friends, huh? It's always your friends. Your stupid, Slytherin friends who hate anyone who isn't a pure-blood. They don't want you talking to me because my dad is famous half-blood Harry Potter. That's what it is, isn't it? It's all about pleasing your stupid pure-blood Slytherin friends."

"That's not true."

"When we first met, we were immediate friends, even in different houses and with the age difference, but last year… Last year at the end, you started hanging out with the Slytherins more than me. Sure, they're in your house, so of course you spend more time with them, but but you spend almost no time with me. You smiled me in Diagon Alley, so I thought everything was okay between us, but apparently it's not. It's not okay. I don't know if it'll ever be okay. I just don't know." She wiped her eyes, stood up, and started walking toward her new friend Audrey.

"Hey, wait." Scorpius stood up, and Lily stopped but didn't turn around to look at him. "That's why I wanted to talk to you. I know we were close. I would never want to do something to hurt you. You're a _great_ person, but—"

"But what?" Lily replied. She turned around to face him. "_But what?_"

"I like you. I really do, but I don't know if we can be friends anymore. A Slytherin just can't be seen with a Gryffindor, especially one with a very famous Gryffindor for a father. Then there's the age difference. There will be two years that you're here and I'm not, and it just wouldn't work if we were so attached and then I graduated. I'm so sorry about it, but it just can't work out with us as friends. I'm sorry."

"I can't believe you. You are an _idiot_, Scorpius!" Lily ran away crying.

"Lily!" Scorpius cried as he ran after her. "Lily! Wait!"

Scorpius had a stunned look on his face as he turned around and sat with his Slytherin friends. "Hey, what happened?" one of his friends asked him. "What did you say to her?"

"I just thought we shouldn't be friends because we're too different."

"Why'd you say that?"

"I thought you guys didn't like her."

"Don't like her? You like her right? Like, _like_ her?"

"Yes, of course." Scorpius wondered what his friends were getting at.

"Well, we wouldn't want you _not_ to talk to her. Come on, are you serious?"

"Wait, you don't mind that I'm friends with a Gryffindor girl who's younger than us?"

"Scorpius, we don't care. At all."

Scorpius put his head in his hands. "Wow, I really messed this one up." He stood up. "I have to go after her." He ran out of the Dining Hall. "Lily! Lily, wait!"

* * *

**Just a reminder, Professor Tuffin and Audrey are OC's from earlier chapters.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	9. Advice

Lily reached her dorm before Scorpius could catch up with her. "Lily!" he yelled into the girls' dorm area. "Lily, just listen to me, please!"

She yelled back to him, "You've already said too much!" Scorpius could hear in her voice that

"Lily! Lily!" He kept yelling to her, but she did not respond again. He walked away, devastated, and returned to his friends in the Dining Hall.

At the beginning of dinner, Rose found Lily in her dorm. "Lily," she said, "I heard you missed all your classes after lunch. What happened? Are you okay?"

"I don't want to talk about it," replied Lily.

"Is it about Scorpius?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Lily yelled. Rose looked hurt. "I'm sorry. It's just been an emotional day."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? You're my cousin and one of my best friends. You can tell me anything."

"Well, okay, I guess. I noticed that he didn't say hi or wave or anything yesterday, and we saw each other like ten times, and he said that we shouldn't be friends because his friends don't think we should. I was starting to think that he genuinely liked me, but he just never acts like it, not since last year. I just can't believe him sometimes!"

"Did you try talking to him about it?" Rose asked her.

"Why would I talk to him? He's ruined things so much already. There isn't anything he can say to fix it."

"But you still really like him?"

"Of course I really like him, but it's hard to like him if he keeps acting like this. I can't believe that he doesn't want to be friends just because his friends don't want us to."

"He's just acting immature. Remember, he's a guy. They care about their image more than who they actually are friends with. Don't get too upset about it. You should talk to him when you're ready."

"Okay," said Lily. "I guess you're right, but I just don't want to have to talk to him ever again!"

"The feeling will pass. Eventually you'll have to say something to him about it. You can't go on like this forever."

"Says who? I never have to talk to him if I don't want to!"

"I guess I can't stop you," Rose said, "but you can't miss any more classes. Besides, he's not in any of them, so you won't even see him at all. Now come on. Let's go get some dinner."

"I don't want to eat."

"You always want to eat! Are you sure? Or is it just because you might see him."

Lily was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "Can you bring something back for me?"

"Of course," her cousin replied. "I'll be back with something delicious.

"Thanks."

Rose left to eat with her friends. After eating, she snuck a sandwich and some vegetables into her bag and went to Lily's dorm. "Thanks so much," said Lily as she ate the food. "I'm sorry I got so emotional earlier. I just thought that things would be different with me and Scorpius this year, and this different sleeping schedule is really messing up my emotions. You know how I get when I'm tired."

"It's okay. I understand. You'll get used to it in a few weeks. Then the only problem is when we get back to England and the time changes back."

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**Sorry this chapter is kind of short. The next one will be longer :)**

**By the way, I didn't mean to make Lily sound like an annoying emotional overdramatic girl, but it sort of just happened. I'll try not to have her stay that way, but she won't be completely emotionless either. It'll work out, but she did sound sort of annoying in this chapter, so sorry about that.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	10. Into the District

Scorpius kept trying to talk to Lily, but she acted like he didn't exist. She was in no mood to speak to him, and she couldn't imagine that he had something to say that he had not already told her or that could make things better. She decided that she was going to talk to him eventually, but she had no idea when that would be.

Several weeks later, during breakfast, Professor Tuffin made an announcement to everyone. "If I could have your attention, please?" he said loudly. Everyone turned to face him, and many people stopped eating. "I'm sorry to inform you, but there will be no classes this morning." Everyone was very confused, and some people started cheering. "But classes will most likely resume this afternoon." A few people groaned, but most of the students were generally very happy to miss morning classes. "Now, you may be wondering why, so I will tell you. The Capitol has decided to put on a little ceremony in the center of each of the districts, and everyone has to attend the ceremony in their district. This means all of you students will attend in a few hours. Yes, even the Hogwarts students. In exchange for allowing the adorable little Brits to stay in their district, we had to agree that the students had to join the ceremony as well. They have asked us all to dress in nice clothes for this. They have not told us anything about the ceremony other than what I have just told you. Everyone is required to attend. Thankfully, the center of the district is not far from here, so we will walk there when it is time to. In the meantime, everyone back to your dorms so you can get ready and dress up nicely for the ceremony. Thank you!"

Everyone was excited, nervous, and anxious for this mysterious ceremony. After about two hours, everyone was ready to go to the center of the district. Professor Tuffin and Professor McGonagall lead the way. They arrived in about fifteen minutes. Other people from the district were arriving as well. A Peacekeeper, similar to a police officer, told them, "Adults and young children go in the back. Kids between the ages of twelve and eighteen sign in and come up front." He repeated it many times as families continued to arrive.

There was a stage at the front, and hundreds, probably even thousands, of people were standing on the ground in front of it. The adults and children were behind them, but teenagers were signing in at one of several tables and moving up to the front, boys on the left and girls on the right. At the back of the stage, there were two large screens, one on either side. There was a microphone on a stand on the stage in the center. There were two stools off to the side of the stage, and on each stool was a glass bowl with several small pieces of paper inside.

After several minutes, it seemed as if everybody had arrived, so the ceremony started. A woman with long, curly, purple and blue hair stepped onto the stage. Her makeup was also extravagant. She had bright red lipstick, bright pink eye shadow, and bright orange fake eyelashes that could be seen from the back of the area. Although it was very extreme, strangely, it flattered her greatly.

She started speaking into the microphone. "Good morning everyone, and happy Hunger Games!" No one knew what this meant, so everyone was very confused, but she continued. "Hello! My name is Susana Patterson, and I am here to introduce to District 12 the very first annual Hunger Games!" Everyone was still very confused. "To get started, let's watch a video brought to us from the Capitol."

The speaker in the video was President Pow, the president of Panem. "Over the past few years," he said as pictures and video clips flashed on the screens," District 13 has been creating quite a stir across Panem. They rebelled and taught others to rebel, but this will happen no more. The Capitol has stopped the rebellion and has gotten rid of District 13 for good. Now we need to rely on the Capitol to show the world what happens when they rebel. Starting this year and continuing every year for the next several years, we will host a little competition we call the Hunger Games. We will choose one boy and one girl within the ages of twelve and eighteen from each district, with a total of twenty-four contestants. These contestants, called victors, will then be dressed up by professional stylists to get sponsors. These sponsors can donate money for supplies needed in the Games. Then the tributes will be sent to a very large arena and fight to the death until one survives." This caught everybody's attention. Many people gasped, and some of the younger children even started crying. Professor Tuffin was terrified. He had no idea that he had agreed to let the Hogwarts students do this. "However, he winner, called the victor, will receive a lifetime of money and food and a new, large house for him or her and his or her family. Also, you may volunteer to be a tribute after both of the tributes are chosen. When this video ends, the designated person from the Capitol will choose at random one boy and one girl to be in the Hunger Games."

The video shut off. Everyone was terrified, freaked out, nervous, and anxious, especially the Hogwarts students. They came to Panem to have a safe trip, not to be killed off in a competition.

"Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor," said Susana, obviously less worried than the people in the District. She paused for a few moments, as if waiting for someone to do something. After a few moments, she continued. "Well, we should get started, shouldn't we? Ladies first." She walked over to the glass bowl to her right and put in her hand without looking. She moved it around for a few seconds before pulling out a piece of paper. She walked back over to the microphone holding the paper. "This year's tribute from district twelve is…" She unfolded the paper and held it in front of her. "Lily Potter."

* * *

**So this is kind of a cliffhanger, just to keep you readers on edge :)**

**Note: Professor Tuffin is an OC from earlier chapters, and Susana Patterson and President Pow are new OC's.**

**Now I'm getting more into the actual plot.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**:D**


	11. Tributes

Lily's hands were shaking. She was supposed to fight against twenty-three other teenagers? To the death? It couldn't be real. She pinched herself several times, but she wasn't dreaming. Susana Patterson spoke into the microphone. "Where is Lily Potter? Come on, honey." Lily slowly started moving toward the stage. "Come on, don't be scared!" but Lily was anything but calm. Her pulse was racing, and her palms were sweaty. She could not believe what was happening. It seemed like a century before she made it to the stage. She climbed the steps and stood next to Susana, staring out into the audience. "So, Lily, how old are you?"

It took a second before Lily realized what Susana had actually said. "Uh, fourteen."

"That's pretty young, but I have faith in you!" said Susana with more enthusiasm than would make sense. "You sound like you have an accent. Where are you from, Lily?"

"Britain."

"Very, very interesting! Now for the boys." Susana walked to the glass bowl on her left.

Lily looked to the audience and could see Rose mouthing, "Not Hugo. Not Hugo," over and over. Lily crossed her fingers and hoped for anyone except Hugo, Albus, or James.

Susana put her hand in the bowl and pulled out a folded slip of paper. She walked back over to the microphone with the paper in her hand. "This year's male tribute from district twelve is…" She unfolded the paper and held it in front of her. "Ooh, what an interesting name!" Lily caught a glance at the paper and almost gasped out loud, but she successfully hid her emotions. "Scorpius Malfoy! Scorpius, could you please come up to the stage, please?" Lily immediately found where he was standing by the snow-white hair on his head.

Scorpius' hands stared shaking as he walked up to the stage. He made eye contact with Lily for a moment before focusing his attention on getting to the stage.

"Did I say your name right?" Susana asked him once he got to the stage. He nodded nervously. "So, how old are you, Scorpius?"

"Uh… Sixteen."

"Very good age. The peak of your teenage years." After a moment, she added, "You also have an accent. Where are you from?"

"Uh… England."

"Wow, you both are from the same area! What a coincidence! Well, shake hands, you two, and then we will head on the train to the Capitol to meet the other tributes that you are up against!" Lily and Scorpius shook hands. Lily made eye contact with him for a second before taking her hand away and looking back to the audience. Susana spoke into the microphone once more. "Thank you everyone for attending, and watch your TVs to get updated on everything about the Hunger Games and to see the footage from when the other tributes got chosen. Thanks, everyone!"

Susana ushered Lily and Scorpius behind the stage, and they got into a small car. Inside the car were two other people. One was a tall, large, tough-looking man with muscles that made his arm look as big as an elephant's leg. The other was a small woman with black hair with green streaks pulled into a tight bun and green fake eyelashes and eye shadow to match her hair. She had a silver, metallic dress and gold stiletto heels.

"Lily, Scorpius, I'd like you to meet Darren," she said, pointing to the tall guy, "and Elsa." She pointed to the small woman. "Darren will be training you for the tournament, and Elsa will be your stylist." Lily and Scorpius were confused. They could understand having a trainer, but why would they need a stylist? Susana seemed to read their minds. "Elsa will be styling you for the tributes parade, where they show all twenty-four tributes to the country for the first time, and for the interview with Alfred Penn. The better you look, the more people will want to sponsor you. When you get sponsors, they send you supplies that you need for the Games, and that could be the difference between life and death. Darren's job is more straightforward. He will be training you to be more physically capable of winning the Games."

Susana droned on and on for almost twenty minutes until they all got to the train station to be taken to the Capitol.

* * *

**Note: Susana Patterson, Darren, Elsa, and Alfred Penn are OC's.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a few days. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	12. Train Ride

When Scorpius, Lily, Darren, Elsa, and Susana got to the train station, they couldn't believe their eyes. Before them was one of the sleekest, fastest trains they had ever seen. It had fourteen long, white cars—the front car, the caboose, and a car for each district. Lily and Scorpius both secretly preferred the Hogwarts Express, but this train was a close second.

They walked along the train until they got to the second-to-last car. The door to the train car opened downward into a ramp, like spaceships in a movie. They entered into the car and noticed that everything was top-notch, luxurious, and expensive.

There were five velvet seats, two facing the other three. Susana motioned for Scorpius and Lily to sit down in the two chairs. Susana, Elsa, and Darren sat down in the other three. Susana rested her chin on her hands, her elbows on her knees. "So," she said, looking very interested, "I've been talking this whole time. Tell me about yourselves."

Lily made a mental note not to mention anything out of the ordinary that might give away that they're wizards and shot a look at Scorpius, hoping he was thinking the same thing. She started, "Well, I'm from the northern part of England, and I'm art of an exchange program. I've only been here for a few weeks. When I came here, I had no idea that any of this would even happen."

"Interesting," replied Susana. "Now, Scorpius, tell me about yourself."

"Well, I'm from the same area as Lily, and I'm in the same exchange program, so we already knew each other." Lily subtly glared at him, so he quickly added, "but we didn't know each other well. We just sort of knew who the other was."

"That's very cool! It makes me wonder if any of the other tributes already knew people from their same district. I'm going to go get a drink. " She motioned to the bar on the other side of the train car.

"That sounds like a good idea," said Darren. "I think I'll follow you." He and Susana stood up and headed toward the bar to poor themselves a drink.

Elsa stood up and stretched. "I'll go to the other cars and talk to the stylists for the other districts to see what they're doing." She then left, leaving Scorpius and Lily alone with each other.

They sat in silence, but after a few moments, Scorpius spoke up. "You have to talk to me sometime."

"No I don't," Lily hastily replied. "Dang it! Er, I mean I'm not talking to you starting _now_."

"Lily, before you go storming off, listen to me." Lily was listening intently, but she kept her head facing the other way, wanting him to think she wasn't listening but curious as to what he had to tell her. "Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot at the beginning of school, but that was my mistake. I thought that my friends mattered more than anything, but I was wrong, Lily. My friends don't care who I'm friends with, and if they did, I wouldn't be friends with them. Please, let's be friends again. I'm sorry."

Lily was silent for a few minutes. Then she said, "I forgive you." She didn't want to tell him this, but she really wanted to be his friend again, and she was glad that he brought it up instead of her.

Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief and smiled bigger than ever when Susana and Darren returned from the bar, each holding a brightly-colored drink in their hand. "I see you two are getting along just fine," said Susana, seeing Scorpius' grin.

After several minutes of chatting, Elsa returned and started talking with Susana and Darren, leaving Lily and Scorpius to talk with each other. At first, they were apprehensive, but by the end of the two-hour train ride, they were talking like best friends again.

* * *

**Note: Susana Patterson, Darren, and Elsa are OC's from earlier chapters.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a few days. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	13. The Capitol

"Whoa, look!" cried Lily, pointing out the window of the train. They had reached the Capitol. There were tall, white buildings everywhere, and people were either walking or driving expensive, sleek cars. They people they saw were dressed as eccentrically as Susana or Elsa. They even saw some people who dyed their skin as well as their hair. They saw one person who wore only purple clothes and had purple hair and skin. They saw another with green skin and blue clothes and hair walking a dog. The dog's fur was dyed blue on the left half and green on the right. They didn't see one person with completely natural hair or normal, everyday clothing. Not many people acknowledged the presence of the train; Lily assumed that the train was a normal sight for life in the Capitol.

"I can't believe it! We're actually in the Capitol," said Scorpius.

"I know, but that means it won't be too long until the Games start," replied Lily after a moment.

Scorpius gulped, and a nervous look entered his eyes. "I forgot about that."

"Come on, guys, let's go!" Susana said to them, ushering them, Elsa, and Darren to the door of the train car. "We want to have enough time to get ready for the tribute parade!" Scorpius and Lily exchanged looks, unsure of what Susana meant by a tribute parade.

"Why isn't the door opening?" asked Scorpius.

Before Susana could answer, they heard an announcement from the conductor, but the announcement wasn't for them. It was for the people gathering outside the entrance train. "Please welcome," said the conductor, "the tribute train from the districts!" The people started applauding and cheering. "The tributes will not be visible to you at this moment, but you will see them tonight at the tribute parade!" The people started cheering once more. "Thank you, and see you tonight!" The people restarted clapping before slowly leaving to return to their everyday lives.

"Wait, if they can't see us now, where are we going to get off the train?" asked Lily. Scorpius nodded his head in agreement.

Another announcement came on, answering their question, as if the conductor could read their thoughts, but this time, only people on the train could hear. "Would everyone please make your way to the back of the train and exit from the caboose, please? Thank you."

"Well, we should get going," said Susana after a second. "We don't want to hold up the rest of the tributes. Come along!"

Susana, Scorpius, Lily, Elsa, and Darren exited through the back of the train, followed by the other tributes and their mentors, and arrived in an empty train station. It was very high-scale. There were clean, white walls and floors, and expensive-looking artwork filled the walls. There was a large crystal chandelier from the ceiling, and there was an elegant clock tower on one side of the large train station.

"This train station," Susana was telling the others, "is our own private train station. There are separate areas for people from each district, and it was built specifically for the purpose of getting tributes ready for the Hunger Games. They just finished construction a few weeks ago, and it will only be used in the future for the annual Hunger Games." There were doors all around the train station, and Susana directed them to a door to their far left that had a small district 12 symbol on it. They entered it and saw that there were several rooms in there. "The bedrooms are in the back, and these rooms to the side are where we will get you ready for the parade. Elsa, if you would lead them to the dressing rooms to prepare them for the parade, that would be wonderful."

Susana and Darren left them alone with Elsa, who took them into one of the rooms on the right, where they found three other stylists waiting for them.

* * *

**Note: Susana, Darren, and Elsa are OC's from earlier chapters.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a few days. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	14. The Stylists

Elsa sat Scorpius and Lily down on a long wooden table, similar to one that might be found in a doctor's office. The walls were all white, and the floors were white and dark blue tiles in a checkerboard pattern. Three people were patiently standing off to the side of the room. The first was very skinny and much taller than most women. She had curly fuchsia hair down to her shoulders and a pink and purple striped dress down to her ankles and red leather boots, but only a small part of these shoes could be seen under the dress. The second was a tall man and had a poofy blue afro. He had a slimming black suit and bright blue colored contacts to make his eyes pop out even more. The third was a petite woman with straight, yellow hair down to her waist and a cute green sundress.

"Scorpius, Lily," Elsa said, "I'd like you to meet the other stylists who will be working with us during the duration of the games. The tall woman is Medallion, the man with blue hair is Christopher, and the little one is Rose."

"Um, please don't call me little, Miss Elsa," Rose said to Elsa in her faint voice.

"Yes, of course, Rose. I forgot about that. I'm sorry," Elsa replied.

"That's okay. Thank you."

"No problem. I am the head stylist, but we are all members of your prep team, and we will all be assisting you in preparing for the parade, the interview with the highly respected Alfred Penn, and just overall stylistic preparations for the Games," Elsa continued. "Do either of you have any questions?" Scorpius and Lily both glanced at each other and shook their heads. "Very good! Very good. Medallion, Christopher, Rose, and I have already discussed what you guys will be wearing for the various events of the tributes, so now we just need to tell you. Christopher, if you would explain their parade outfit, please."

Elsa stepped to the side, and Christopher walked in front of Lily and Scorpius, his afro bobbing with every step. "So," he said, using over-the-top hand gestures with his words, "for the tribute parade, it is agreed that the outfits you wear will correctly represent the district that you are from. If you didn't already know, District 12 is known for coal mining. This means that your outfits have to represent the wonderful industry of mining to the rest of the country." They could tell that Christopher did not actually think that coal mining was a wonderful industry, as no one did, but obviously, he could not talk bad about the district that he had been assigned. "We all agreed that you," he said, pointing to Scorpius, "will wear a slim black outfit with a utility belt an a stylish mining hat. Lily, you will be wearing the same thing, except yours will be a dress down to your knees instead of a shirt and pants. You both will wear black boots. Scorpius, yours will be stylish men's boots, but Lily, yours will be more similar to the ones Medallion has on, except in black." Christopher motioned to Medallion, who pulled up part of her dress to reveal skinny red leather boots that went almost up to her knees. She quickly dropped the dress to the ground once Christopher started talking again. "Your hair will have some temporary dye in it as well. We won't change your hair color, but it will make it look as if you have acquired some coal dust in it. It will be especially effective on yours, Scorpius." Scorpius fought his cheeks from turning red as everyone admired his bright white hair. "That's it, so what do you think?"

Scorpius and Lily exchanged uncertain looks. "It certainly sounds…interesting," said Lily, silently trusting that it would turn out better than it sounded.

"Um, yeah, it does," continued Scorpius.

"Yes, it sounds positively lovely! I cannot wait to get started!" exclaimed Elsa, who sounded as perky and excited for the Games as Susana. "Well, let's get going!" she continued. "We've got sponsors to impress!"

* * *

**Note: Elsa, Medallion, Christopher, Rose, Alfred Penn, and Susana are OC's.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter up in a few days.**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading! :D**


	15. Makeover

Elsa and Rose took Lily into a door to the right while Christopher and Medallion took Scorpius through a door on the left. The rooms were identical on the inside. They had a long table, exactly the same as the one in the previous room, but they also had a counter against a wall. There was a large mirror behind the counter, and a chair was in front of it. This was for the tributes' hair and makeup. Directly next to the counter was a large white cabinet, which was used for holding their outfits, clothing items, makeup, hair products, and anything else that might be used to style the tributes. On the opposite wall was a full-body-sized mirror.

Elsa led Lily to the table and sat her down. Rose opened the closet and pulled out a thin gown. She handed this to Elsa, who then gave it to Lily. "Put this on," Elsa said as Lily tentatively took the gown. "Change into this immediately so we can begin preparations for your makeover for the parade."

Lily stared at the gown for a few seconds without saying anything.

"Well," said Elsa, who was beginning to get impatient, "put it on! We don't have that long before you have to look as good as you possibly can for the nationally broadcast tribute parade in a few hours."

"Um…" said a nervous Lily, "is there somewhere I can change or something?"

"Okay," said Elsa. "Rose and I will turn around, and you change as fast as you can, and then tell us when you're done." She did a twirling motion with her hand to motion to Rose to turn around.

Once Lily was satisfied that they couldn't see her, she put on the gown as quickly as possible and said, "I'm done."

Elsa and Rose both quickly pivoted on their heels to face Lily, and Elsa no longer looked annoyed. "Wonderful!" she said, a smile on her face. "Let's get you ready for the parade."

Throughout the next few hours, Elsa mostly gave instructions while Rose did the makeover, but Elsa helped her with that job. First they had Lily lay down on the table so they could wax her legs, arms, and face where there shouldn't have been hair. Then she sat up, and they tweezed her eyebrows. So far this was a very painful experience for Lily, who was tempted to massage her eyebrows when they were facing the other way. Then she changed into a tight black dress that stopped a little above her knees. The bottom of the dress flared out slightly, and, surprisingly, it flattered her figure very much.

Rose and Elsa carefully sat her down in the chair in front of the counter. They took a large piece of cloth and draped it around her neck, covering her dress so that they wouldn't accidentally spill anything on it. They curled her hair perfectly and then messed it up. It wasn't exactly messed up, but they teased it a little to make it look like she had just been working in the mines. They sprinkled shimmering black powder all over her head, and even Lily was convinced that it looked just like coal dust.

Then they did Lily's makeup. Rose and Elsa gave her black eyeliner to match the dress, black fake eyelashes, shimmering green eye shadow to match her eyes, and subtle pink blush. Then they took more of the black powder and threw it at Lily's face. Following their instructions, she shook her head back and forth until all the excess powder was gone, leaving her face covered with a thin layer.

They took off the cloth around her neck, and she stood up. Rose opened up the cabinet and gave Elsa a beige utility belt, who put it on Lily. It contained a few small tools, including a pickax, and then Elsa gave Lily tall, black leather boots and a yellow-orange mining hat.

Lily faced herself in the full-length mirror and gasped in awe. Not only did she look like she came out form working in the mines, but she also looked stunning. The stylists' plan had worked! Lily immediately regretted ever doubting their decisions, but before she could say anything, Elsa and Rose took her into the larger styling room, where Scorpius and his stylists had just arrived. He was wearing almost the same thing, except his outfit consisted of thin, black pants and a short-sleeved shirt and black, stylish hiking boots, but the utility belt and hat were the same. The use of the black powder was even more effective on his face and hair, which was usually gleaming white.

At that moment, Susana Patterson burst in and was widely grinning at them. "Oh, you two look absolutely stunning!" she exclaimed. "Fabulous! Come on!"

Susana and the stylists left the room, and Scorpius and Lily followed close behind. Scorpius quickly grabbed Lily's hand, and she looked up at him and smiled. "You look beautiful," he said.

"No, you look better," she replied.

"Let's not make this into another argument. We both look great," he remarked. Lily laughed at him and rolled her eyes, more than happy that they were friends again.

Once they reached the center of the train station, they saw the other twenty-two tributes standing with their stylists, waiting to exit the station and start the parade. All of them wore a different magnificent costume representing what their district was known for. In the center of the station, lined up behind a large set of doors, there were twelve large carriages. An announcement came on, telling them to start boarding the carriages. Lily and Scorpius climbed into the last carriage, which had the seal of District 12 large on the sides, and were at last prepared to start the first annual tribute parade.

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**Note: Elsa, Rose, Christopher, Medallion, and Susana are OC's from earlier chapters.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	16. Tribute Parade

The time had come for the tribute parade, and Lily was more nervous than ever.

"Now remember," Susana Patterson told them as they were getting into the carriage. "Wave and smile. You're doing this to get sponsors, and no one will help you if you don't look friendly enough."

"Got it," replied Scorpius.

"Okay, you two, be great! I know you will!"

Once they were in the carriage, Scorpius grabbed Lily's hand and gave a gentle squeeze to silently say "good luck." Lily smiled at him when they noticed two assistants from the Capitol coming forward. The assistants opened the large set of doors in front of the first carriage, and the horses pulled the carriages forward through the doors. Lily and Scorpius couldn't see past the doors because they were in the back, but by the time they got through the doorway, her breath was taken away. There must have been thousands upon thousands of people, all from the Capitol, cheering them on.

Quickly remembering what Susana told her to do, Lily smiled as big as she could and reached her hands straight up in the air, waving to the audience. Scorpius didn't catch on after a few seconds, so Lily elbowed him in the ribs, and he did the same thing.

While they were riding in the carriage, Alfred Penn, the famous talk show host and the person who would later interview all the tributes, was giving a play-by-play of the parade into a camera and was broadcasted throughout the entire country. He listed off all twenty-four of the tributes and described their outfits, their districts, how they were chosen, and any other information he thought the whole country of Panem should know about them.

Meanwhile, back in District 12, the Panem School of Magic was watching everything. Because this was a magic school, technology could work because there was too much magic interference. However, Professor Tuffin, the headmaster of the Panem School of Magic, along with the help of Professor McGonagall, the headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, put many magical spells on the building to allow technology to work. Scorpius and Lily, the tributes chosen from District 12, were also members of Hogwarts, so the two headmasters thought it was fair that the students should be able to view the Hunger Games.

Every student in the school was gathered in the Dining Hall to watch the Tribute Parade, which was the first footage of the tributes that had been shown on television since they had been chosen. A giant screen was behind the staff table at the front of the Dining Hall, and it filled up almost the whole wall. The students and teachers watched intently as Alfred Penn talked about each district's tributes.

During the Tribute parade, Alfred Penn never gave much of an opinion on the tributes. He mostly just talked about what he saw and what was obvious. "Here we have the tributes from District 1," Alfred started, "Benny Johnson and Feather Phoenix. Now, Feather Phoenix is a very pretty name. I think we can all agree on that. I just love their outfits! They have very skilled stylists. District 1 is known for manufacturing luxury items often used in the Capitol. Their outfits, if you can't see, are made of luxurious silk and include many gemstones, which look like diamonds, sapphires, and rubies from up here. It must be a privilege to wear such a luxurious outfit."

It took almost a half hour before he got to District 12's tributes. "Last but not least, here we have the tributes from District 12. Their names are Scorpius Malfoy and Lily Potter." As soon as he had mentioned this, every student in the Panem School of Magic started cheering before Professor Tuffin quickly shushed them so he could hear what Alfred was saying. Alfred continued, "Wow. Scorpius is such a unique name! Lily is very pretty as well, as it is a very lovely flower. One of my favorite types of flowers, actually, but it's hard to choose a favorite because every flower is beautiful. I really like their outfits! They accurately represent that District 12 is the coal-mining district. They almost look like they had just climbed out of the coal mines themselves! The coal mines of fashion, that is." He continued rambling about their outfits for several more minutes before signing off.

After thirty-five minutes of smiling and waving, their carriage finally reached the end of the route, where it had entered into another building. The inside was very long and had a very high ceiling, but it was not as big as the train station where they had gotten ready.

"You guys were _fabulous_!" Susana ran up to greet them as soon as they had gotten off of the carriage. "We got a few calls from potential sponsors, and if you keep this up, we'll have even more by the time you enter the Games!" Scorpius and Lily smiled at each other. "Now, you two, change out of these outfits quickly and carefully and get to bed. You need to get rested up to start training tomorrow!" Lily looked nervous, but Scorpius held her hand, and she felt better.

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**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a few days. Sorry this one took so long. I was busy and not in a writing mood for some reason, but I have a good idea for the next chapter, so I'll try to write it faster than this one :D**

**Note: Susana Patterson, Alfred Penn, Professor Tuffin, and the other tributes are OC's.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	17. Harry and Ginny

Throughout this whole experience, Lily had no idea that her parents, Harry and Ginny Potter, were watching her on television. As soon as Professor McGonagall and Professor Tuffin found out what had happened to Scorpius and Lily, they had sent notes to both of their parents explaining what had happened.

The day that Harry and Ginny had received the letter had been the worst day of their lives up to that point. They had just found out that their only daughter was put in some kind of sick killing game with other adolescents, people who could be her best friends in another world but are forced to be her enemies.

Three large owls had flown in the window holding a brown box twice as big as a microwave with a letter taped to the top. The owls dropped it on the floor with a large clunk while Ginny was fixing dinner. She left the kitchen to see what the noise was and saw the package and the silhouettes of three owls as they flew off into the distance. Ginny woke Harry up from his nap—he had a long day at work and was extremely tired—and brought him into the foyer to look at the abnormally large package that was sitting on the floor. Ginny took the letter off of the top of the box and unfolded the paper. She had only read a few lines silently to herself before she put her hand over her mouth in horror.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" asked Harry. She then started reading it out loud to him.

_"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Harry Potter,_

_"We are sending this letter to inform you of terrible happenings in Panem regarding your daughter, who, as of now, is in grave danger. The Panem muggle government has started what they call the Hunger Games. It sounds like a fun little activity, but this is anything but that. Every year, starting this year, the Panem government chooses two children between the ages of twelve and eighteen from each district to fight to the death on a nationwide-televised match. They will be sent to an arena to fight until one survives as the whole country watches. We are very upset to inform you that the two children chosen from District 12, which is where the Panem School of Magic is located, are two of our very own Hogwarts students who just happened to be at the school this year. They are Scorpius Malfoy and your daughter Lily. We were informed that in order to let them stay at the Panem School of Magic, they had to participate in some special ceremony, but none of us had any idea that the ceremony would be putting their names in to be chosen at random to fight to the death. We would never agree to sending them overseas if we knew that this event would happen, but the muggle government was very secretive about it. We are more than sorry to say this to you. They were chosen today around lunchtime here in Panem, which would be around suppertime in England. We sent this owl as soon as we could. You are probably wondering why there is a large box with this letter. Inside there is a television for you. Being a wizard family, you most likely do not already own one. We enchanted the television so that it is not interfered by magic and so that you can watch television stations in Panem as opposed to the stations you have in England. With this, if you choose to, you can watch your daughter during the Hunger Games. There will be a few events before the fighting begins if you would rather watch just those. Of course, you can choose not to watch any of it. In a few hours, there will be a parade where all twenty-four tributes who were chosen will be presented wearing clothes that portray the district they were chosen from. Until then, we are sure that they will show repeats of when the tributes were chosen, and you might see your daughter there. We re very sorry to tell this to you. We would not let this happen if we had known beforehand the danger that lurked in Panem._

_"Extremely sorry,_

_"Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_"Albert Tuffin, Headmaster of Panem School of Magic."_

There was a very large lump in both Ginny's and Harry's throats. They were both speechless. Their only daughter would be fighting to the death, and there was a one-in-twenty-four chance that she would come home alive. They set up the television and turned it on just in time to see a clip from when the District 12 tributes were chosen. Ginny hugged Harry and cried into his shoulder for hours, only stopping to look up at the tribute parade later that night.

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**This chapter is so depressing because it shows how Lily's family feels about the whole thing. I felt really bad just writing it, and I can't even imagine how Harry and Ginny feel. I do love this chapter, though, and 17 is my lucky number :)**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a few days.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	18. Good Morning

**The last chapter was pretty sad. This chapter isn't sad, and it probably won't get that sad for the rest of the story, or at least for a while :D**

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The next morning, Susana ran into Lily's room while she was sleeping. "Wakey wakey!" said Susana, turning on the bright ceiling light. Lily squinted her eyes as she woke up.

"What time is it?" Lily asked after a moment.

"It's only five-thirty in the morning, but we have a lot to do today!" said Susana. Lily groaned. All she wanted to do was fall back asleep, but she couldn't because of the busy schedule. "We have until noon to train with Darren, and then lunch, and then you have three hours to train with the other tributes, and then you go into the training area alone and impress the judges, and then they give you a score up to twelve depending on how well you do, and then it's time for dinner, and then tonight is the interview with Alfred Penn, the famous talk show host, and then tomorrow you'll have a few hours to train more before you start the Games! So exciting!" Lily was glad that Susana stopped because she probably would've screamed if Susana said "and then" one more time.

"I'm tired. Can't we just sleep in a few hours?" asked Lily in an annoyed tone.

"No, of course not! All the tributes have to do this, and all of us stylists and trainers and mentors and such will help you through this. You won't be alone, don't worry."

"Thanks," replied Lily, but she was anything but grateful. If they really were there for her, she wouldn't have to be in the Hunger Games in the first place. "Can I just have a few minutes to get ready first?" she asked.

"Of course!" Susana responded. "In the closet you'll find a hanger with an outfit and a label that says _training_. Just change into that one and brush your teeth and your hair and whatever else you need to do, then you can come out for breakfast. A toothbrush and toothpaste and a hairbrush and anything else you need can be found in the bathroom right outside your bedroom to the left. Just come into the room at the end of the hallway for breakfast once you're ready. We'll be waiting!"

After several minutes, Lily finally got out of bed. She got dressed, brushed her teeth, and brushed her hair. She then walked to the end of the hall to eat breakfast.

Scorpius, Susana, and Darren were already sitting at the table eating. "Where are the stylists?" asked Lily.

"They're sleeping in because they don't have to do anything until this afternoon."

Lily, still frustrated with being woken up so early, silently sat down at the table and didn't say anything. There was a bowl of cereal, a few pieces of sausage, a plate of scrambled eggs, a glass of orange juice, a bowl of fruit, and two pieces of French toast already on the table in front of an empty chair. "Is all of this for me?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Susana, "because you have a very long day, so you need as much food as you can get. If you can't eat all of that, that's fine, but you should at least try to eat as much as you can to get more energy for training today."

Lily, still very tired, took a few bites of cereal before realizing it was too soggy, so she ate the sausage instead. She and Scorpius talked for a while about the Games. After Susana and Darren left, they started talking about what they might be missing at school. After about a half hour, it was time to leave to start training for the Games.

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**Susana and Darren are OC's from earlier chapters.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a few days.**

**I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading! :D**


	19. Training

After breakfast, around six-thirty in the morning, Darren, the trainer for the District 12 tributes, led Scorpius and Lily to the District 12 training room. It was about as big as a relatively large Hogwarts classroom, except the ceiling was much higher. There was a rack of weapons in the middle and a target against the far wall. Next to the target were several more targets that were in the shape of a person. The rest of the room was filled with weights, exercise machines, and any other object imaginable to help them train for the Hunger Games.

"Here we are," said Darren as they entered into the room. Darren wasn't very talkative. He had a light brown buzz cut and a white sleeveless shirt. Lily guessed that he had been in the army at one point in his life. He seemed nice, but Lily could imagine that he can get very scary when he tries.

"Is this all for us?" asked Scorpius, who looked in awe around the training facility.

"Yeah, it's the District 12 training room," replied Darren. "We have a few hours in here before you guys go to a larger room to train with the other tributes after lunch."

"Yeah, I think Susana might've told us already," said Lily.

"She did." Darren was so matter-of-fact about everything he said that it almost surprised Lily.

After a moment of awkward staring in silence, Scorpius finally said something.

"Hey guys, do you think that we should start the training? We have only a few hours until lunch, after all," Scorpius said awkwardly.

After another awkwardly silent moment, Darren said, "Okay, let's go."

Despite the fact that Darren didn't talk much, he was a very good trainer. He was stronger than both Lily and Scorpius combined. He could lift several hundred pounds at one time. Scorpius could lift about sixty-five pounds, and Lily struggled with more than twenty-five or thirty.

Darren spent most of the time giving them tips and demonstrations on how to use certain weapons while Scorpius and Lily just practiced using everything until they found something that they could do really well. Scorpius could run and swim very fast, and Lily was an expert at climbing and hiding.

"You need to use your strengths as much as possible," Darren told them when they were almost done with their morning training. "You also need to try to figure out what the other tributes' weaknesses are and use it to your advantage." Lily and Scorpius listened attentively to everything Darren told them and nodded their head in agreement. Lily almost wished she had brought a piece of paper so she wouldn't forget anything he said because he told them everything he knew and could anticipate about the Games. He became much more talkative than Lily had originally thought. "The other tributes will likely form groups in the beginning. The careers—which is what we've nicknamed the tributes from District 1, District 2, and District 4—will probably be allies. Unfortunately, this won't help you because you two are from District 12, and it's very unlikely that they'll form alliances with you. You need to get rid of these alliances and the people in these alliances. Attack their weaknesses and use your strengths." Suddenly they heard the ding of a bell, signaling that it was noon.

"Is it time for lunch now?" asked Scorpius.

"Yes, let's go," replied Darren.

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**Note: Darren is an OC.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a few days.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	20. Waiting

**I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've last updated. I was busy with the school musical and just a lot of homework in general. I'll be updating more quickly from now on, don't worry! :D**

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By the time lunch came around, Lily and Scorpius were exhausted. They had been training for about five hours without stopping, and it made Lily more tired just thinking that they would have to train for three more hours after eating lunch.

The lunch that was prepared for them was huge, even bigger than their breakfast. Lily was starving. She couldn't wait to stuff her face with delicious (yet surprisingly healthy) food that was guaranteed to make them stronger and more energetic throughout the rest of their training session.

Lunch took almost an hour. There was so much food to eat that they barely had time to talk, and then they had to rest for twenty minutes so that they wouldn't get stomach cramps during training.

It was almost one-thirty when they got to the training facility that was to be used by all the tributes. To say that it was larger than the District 12 training room was an understatement. It was at least three times as large, and contained many more types of equipment than was available for individual district training rooms.

Throughout the next few hours, Lily noticed certain trends emerging with the other tributes. The ones from Districts 1, 2, and 4 seemed to focus on the weapons. The two from District 11 tended to be good at hiding. The tributes from District 3 focused on building and figuring things out. The others tended to train mostly on other things, especially including strength and speed.

Lily and Scorpius worked together for most of the time, focusing on improving their strengths and learning how to use some of the weapons.

Both Lily and Scorpius felt very exhausted by the time they finished their afternoon training. They only had a few minutes for a quick snack before they had to impress several judges and be given a score up to twelve based on how ready the judges think they are for the Games.

After their snack, which was actually quite small in comparison to their earlier meals, they had to go to a corridor outside of the training room and wait for their turn to be scored.

They were arranged in order of District, boy before girl, which meant that Lily was the last person to go. She wondered whether it would make a difference in their scoring that they had to wait through twenty-three tributes before her.

There was an assistant game maker who was calling people in when they were ready. What was going to happen finally sunk in for Lily. She became more nervous than ever, the only exception being when she got chosen for the Games.

Slowly but surely, the tributes were called into the training room. After each one was over, she saw them exit through the door but go the opposite direction down the corridor. From the back of the line, it was hard to make out their expressions. She wanted to know whether they felt successful in their scoring. There were so many questions she had on her mind—whether she would do well, whether she would know the score right away or later, how long it would take.

Lily did not realize that she was shaking so much. While the first District 7 tribute was in the training room, Scorpius asked her if anything was wrong.

"Oh, nothing," she replied. "Just nervous, that's all."

"Well, don't be," he said. "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"I sure hope so."

His enlightening words certainly encouraged her and calmed her down a lot more. Well, it was an exaggeration to say she was calm. She was still very nervous, but an encouraging look from Scorpius a moment later calmed her down even more. She trusted him. If he thought she would do well, then she thought she would.

After a while of waiting in silence, the game makers made it through District 11's tributes. Scorpius was next.

"Good luck in there," said Lily. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it for luck.

"Good luck to you, too," he replied, squeezing her hand in return. "See you on the other side!"

He followed the assistant game maker into the room, leaving Lily alone. She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Darren, her trainer.

"Darren, you're not supposed to be here!" she said, anxiously looking around to make sure that no one could see him.

"I only have a moment," he replied. "I just wanted to remind you to use your strengths. Don't do anything that you know you're bad at. We want you to get the highest score possible. I know you'll be great."

"Thanks." Lily heard footsteps behind the door. "She's coming! Bye, Darren!"

He quickly said, "Good luck," to her. The door handle started to turn. She heard Darren's footsteps behind her. The assistant walked out. She saw Scorpius walking in the other direction. She didn't have time to look at him before he was out of sight, but he seemed frustrated. She turned around and, relieved, noticed that Darren was nowhere to be seen.

"This way," the assistant said to Lily in a monotonous voice. She opened the door. Lily followed. She remembered what Scorpius had said earlier while waiting in line and felt a little better. She just kept telling herself to show them what she's good at and to avoid the weapons that she could not use.

It was finally time for Lily to receive a score.

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**Note: Darren, the assistant, and the other tributes are OC's.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted within a week.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	21. Scores

The training room looked so strange without the other tributes in there. Lily looked around her, deciding what to do first. She noticed that a large panel of metal was missing from where it was on the wall earlier. Instead, there was a room with a window overlooking the training area. There were about twenty game makers. They were sitting in chairs by the window, eating what looked like a big feast. She noticed that the game maker whom she followed exited and appeared with the other game makers behind the window.

Lily thought of her strengths. She could climb and hide pretty well. She should definitely do that before she had to leave the room, but that wouldn't get her a good score. She thought that she should throw knives. She wasn't too bad at that. She decided that she was going to climb into the rafters and then throw a knife from up there. That should get her a score that's not too bad, at least.

She walked over to the rack of weapons and picked up a few of the knives for throwing. Then she walked over to one of the beams that connected the floor and the ceiling. She didn't think of this before. How was she supposed to climb if she was holding three knives? She held one in her mouth by the handle and held the other two in her hands. She carefully wrapped her arms around the pole and started climbing. She got to the top within thirty seconds. Once she was up there, she wrapped her arms and legs around the ceiling beams and climbed about twenty feet across the ceiling until she was about halfway between the two closest beams.

Lily spotted a few human-shaped targets. She unwrapped one of her arms from a beam, took aim, and flicked her wrist. The knife flung out of her hand and hit the middle of the target's head. This caught the attention of the game makers more than the climbing did. With her free hand, she grabbed the knife out of her mouth and flung it. It hit the target's shoulder.

_Okay, this is the last one_, she thought. _I have to make it the best shot ever to get a good enough score_.

Lily took the last knife from her other hand, spent several seconds aiming, and flung it. It hit right in the target's heart. She couldn't be happier.

She climbed through the rafters until she reached a beam and slid down. She got to the ground and was about to go to the weapons rack to try something else when she heard a voice.

"Thank you," she heard a game maker say. "That is enough. Please exit through the door in which you entered."

Lily walked through the door, where the assistant game maker suddenly appeared to lead her down the hallway. Around the corner, she saw Scorpius, Darren, Susana, and the stylists waiting for her. They all had questions. "How did you do?" "Did you do well?" "What did you do to impress them?" "Do you think you'll get a good score?"

"I did well," replied Lily. "At least I think I did."

"Well, that's wonderful!" replied Susana, who's face lit up with excitement. "Let's go."

"Go where?" asked Scorpius.

"To the District 12 room, of course! They're about to announce the scores on national TV!"

Once they got back to the room, they turned on the television. It was Alfred Penn's news show. "The tributes have just finished impressing the judges, and in about ten minutes, we'll announce the scores that they have received."

"Oh, I have to wait ten minutes!" complained Susana. "Since we have time, how about we hear what you two did! Scorpius, you first!"

"Well, I'm best at running fast, but it was hard to do that in that arena, so I did two laps as fast as I could around the perimeter, and then I tried shooting some arrows."

"Tried?" said Darren.

"It didn't work too well. Then they asked me to leave. It didn't last long."

"Interesting. What about you, Lily?" asked Susana. Then Lily recounted the story of how she climbed the rafters and threw knives. "So you think you did well?" asked Susana after she was done.

"Yeah, I think I did," replied Lily.

"Oh, it's back on!" Susana exclaimed, turning up the volume.

"Hello, it's Alfred Penn here," said Alfred on the TV. "Today, if you didn't know, was the tributes' training day. After hours of rigorous training for the first annual Hunger Games, each tribute went alone into the training room to impress about twenty game makers. After each tribute left. The game makers gave them a score up to twelve—twelve being great and one being horrible. I am here to tell you the scores that each of the tributes received."

Alfred then went through all twenty-two tributes before he got to District 12. The bigger, tougher people got in the range of about eight to ten. No one got higher than a ten. The smaller ones got between five and seven, and one of them got a four.

"From District 12," continued Alfred, "we have Scorpius Malfoy. He scored a… six."

"Not too bad," said Susana. "People have done worse."

"Also from District 12, we have Lily Potter." Lily was so nervous. She wondered whether she did enough to impress them. "Her score is… nine!" Everyone was so excited for her that she didn't hear Alfred say, "Those are the scores for this year! Congratulations to everyone! They'll be on my talk show this evening. Good night, Panem!"

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**Note: Darren, Susana, the stylists, the game makers, and Alfred Penn are all OC's.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted within a week.**

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	22. Backstage

The training and scores had taken so long that it was already time to eat dinner, but they didn't have much time.

"In just two hours will be your interview for Alfred Penn, so we need to eat quickly, take an hour or so to get ready, and then head straight to his studio!" said Susana eagerly.

"Wait, we have an interview?" asked Lily.

"Yes, I told you two this morning!" replied Susana enthusiastically.

"You did?" said Scorpius, who was trying to recall their encounter.

"Oh, you must have been too tired to remember. It was right when you woke up. Well, we better start eating!" They headed to the District 12 dining room, which is where they had eaten the last few meals. Waiting for them on the table was a large feast, just as there had been the past few times, except very slightly smaller.

"Susana," asked Lily as Susana turned to face her, "who makes all this food?"

"Each district has their own set of two or three cooks who spend their time preparing and cooking food. Being the last district, we only have two cooks while districts one through eight have three, but nevertheless, our cooks are pretty great, I must say," replied Susana. "Now, stop talking and start eating! We need as much time as possible to prepare you for the interview!"

After eating, the stylists led Scorpius and Lily to their separate styling rooms, just as they had done before the tribute parade.

Within an hour, the stylists had dressed Lily in a beautiful, flowing white halter dress down to her knees in the front, the middle of her calf in the back. Elsa, the main stylist for District 12, had told Lily that the interview outfits were meant to flatter the tribute rather than represent the district from which they came. She also wore white stiletto heels. Her hair was in a braid wrapped on the back of her head like a bun. She wore a gold belt and gold hoop earrings.

Once she was ready, she walked out and saw Scorpius waiting for her, wearing an ivory suit with a green tie. Not for the first time, lily noticed how handsome he looked, but he looked more handsome than he had ever been.

Scorpius was just as awestruck. Lily looked absolutely stunning. Scorpius, who didn't know what to say to tell her how he thought, managed to sputter out, "Wow."

"What?" replied Lily, who didn't notice what he said because she couldn't stop thinking about how nice he looked.

"It's just… you look amazing."

Lily giggled. "Really? I mean… thanks. You look great, too."

"Thanks."

"Okay, you two, let's go!" said Susana, breaking an awkward silence. Lily, who temporarily forgot that there were other people around them, suddenly felt very self-conscious.

"Um, Susana?" said Lily.

"Yes?"

"How many people will see this interview?"

"You'll be onstage in front of a few hundred people, but it will be broadcast to the whole country, and everyone will certainly watch it."

"Everyone?"

"Of course everyone! Who wouldn't want to watch this interview?"

Lily was becoming more and more nervous. She couldn't believe that she would be interviewed on national television and then fight _to the death_ on national television. Whoever came up with the idea must have been insane.

Lily, Scorpius, and Susana entered into a car and rode to the backstage entrance of Alfred Penn's talk show studio. Their trainer and stylists could not fit in the car; they would come to sit in the audience right before the show starts. They went into the room and saw people in headsets running about, other tributes, and security guards, and they even saw Alfred Penn at a distance, but he quickly disappeared into a room.

"What do we do now?" asked Lily.

"We wait for instructions, and then the show will start," replied Susana.

As if on cue, a stage director ran through, yelling, "Tributes in order on stage right! Tributes in order on stage right!" He shouted it several more times before quickly leaving. Following his directions, Susana and the two tributes went toward the right side of backstage.

They saw the other tributes lining up behind a black side door that said "STAGE" in large white letters. A different stage director was asking their districts and then moving them into position. "What district are you from?" he asked Lily frantically once they arrived.

"Twelve."

He grabbed both Scorpius and Lily by the shoulders and dragged them to the back of the line, Lily in front of Scorpius. Soon it was time to start. There was a long wait ahead of them, so Lily and Scorpius chatted for a while, trying to hold their nervousness. After an hour and a half, the second District Eleven tribute went through the door, and they once again heard the overwhelming applause of the studio audience.

"It's almost time for you to go in," Susana said to Lily and Scorpius, "so I'll give you a few tips. First, remember that we are on national television, so don't embarrass yourself. Second, just be yourself and be friendly with Alfred. I've met him. He's really nice and easy to talk to. Don't reveal anything too personal, but don't act like a stiff board who won't say anything at all. He'll probably ask you about your love life. If you're in a relationship with someone back home, reveal that, but don't tell him if you have a crush because then he will try to make you reveal that, and it can make you look bad. Finally, don't tell him what you can or can't do. The trainers from the other districts will tell their tributes, and then they have something against you."

The stage director came out and said, "Lily Potter, your turn." She followed the director.

"Good luck, Lily!" cried Susana. "Remember what I told you!"

* * *

**Note: Everyone in this chapter except for Lily and Scorpius are OC's.**

**I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but I've been really busy with homework and such, but I'll try to update more quickly in the future. I'll try to have the next chapter posted within a week.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	23. Interview

As soon as Lily stepped onstage, she was blinded by the stage lights, but she managed to make her way to the empty armchair next to Alfred.

"People of Panem, please welcome our female District 12 tribute, Lily Potter!" The audience clapped and cheered loudly. Lily waved at the crowd, trying not to squint too obviously. "So, Lily," Alfred continued, "can you tell me how it felt to be chosen as a tribute?"

"I felt scared because this is a scary event but excited to go to the Capitol, but I was mostly scared," Lily replied, trying not to shake from nervousness.

"What exactly went through your mind when you heard your name?"

"I was just really scared, thinking 'Could this really happen?' and I was just hoping that the other tribute wasn't either of my brothers or my cousin because I wanted to keep them safe."

"Aw, that's sweet. Let's giver her a round of applause for being a good sister!" The audience clapped and cheered once more. "Now, tell me, what has the experience been like so far for you?"

"Um, I'm not sure where to start."

"Well, what did you do right after you were chosen?"

"Um, first we went on a train to the Capitol—"

Alfred cut her off before she could finish. "What was that experience like for you?"

"Um, it was fun. I got to know the trainers, stylists, and the other District 12 tribute a little better, and that was the first time I've ever been to the Capitol."

"And after that?"

"We got ready for the tribute parade. That was fun because there aren't many occasions to dress up in awesome outfits like that one."

"Yes, I really liked that outfit."

"Yeah, the stylists are really good."

"Then what about the tribute parade?"

"That was exciting because we were introduced to the world for the first time officially, and we got to learn more about the other districts based on what they wear."

"Besides your own outfit, whose outfit was your favorite?"

"I don't know. They were all so great."

"I know the feeling. It's hard to decide, but I think yours was my favorite." He turned to the audience. "What do you think? Was Lily's outfit the best?" The audience broke into its usual applause and cheering. Lily wondered if he said this to every tribute. He probably did. "What about after that?"

"Well, I was tired from the long day, so I went to bed, and then it was today. I trained with my trainer all morning and then with the other tributes in the afternoon, and then I got my score, and here I am now. The training process was hard and exhausting, but I think I got better throughout the day."

"Interesting. Now, I'm curious, Lily," he said. "What is your love life back home like?"

Lily remembered Susana warning him about this. To tell you the truth, Lily had a major crush on Scorpius, but for obvious reasons, it wouldn't be able to work for those two. Lily was careful with how she worded her answer. "There's nothing going on."

"So you're not in a relationship?" Lily shook her head. "Do you have a crush on anyone?"

"No."

"Why ever not?"

Lily remembered what she told Susana on the train and based her answer off of that. "Well, I'm in an exchange program from England, as you may have figured out from the accent, so I haven't had time to get to know too many people here, and I wasn't friends with any guys back home in England."

"An exchange program? How exciting that must be!"

"Yeah, it's been fun."

"Now, about your score, you got a nine. That is very impressive. How exactly did you do it?"

Once again, Lily remembered Susana's words of warning against this type of question. "Well, I guess I just used some weapons pretty well, and they liked it. Nothing in particular, I think."

"Very nice, very nice. Well, it seems that we are out of time for you today." He motioned for Lily to stand up, and she did. Then he said to the audience, "Please give a round of applause for this lovely tribute, Lily Potter!" The audience cheered very enthusiastically once more as Lily exited and met Susana outside the stage exit.

"You did wonderfully!" said Susana as a stage director motioned for Scorpius to enter the stage.

"You watched?" replied Lily, who was still nervous from the interview.

"Yes, of course! Why wouldn't I? Now let's go back to the studio room where I was last time so we can watch Scorpius' interview as well. Now before we go in, you have to remember to be quiet because they are editing the video in there." Lily agreed, and the two left the backstage area into a room with several screens, keyboards, microphones, and other editing equipment.

They tiptoed behind the people sitting in front of the screens and watched the top one, which showed a wide view of both Scorpius and Alfred. His interview was about the same as Lily's. He also said that he was in an exchange program, admitted to having no relationship or crushes, and did not reveal what he did in the training room. As soon as the interview was over, Lily and Susana quietly ran back to the backstage area, where Scorpius entered into. Susana congratulated him as well, and they left the building altogether, got into the car, and drove back to the District 12 rooms.

* * *

**Note: Everyone in this chapter except for Scorpius and Lily are OC's.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in about a week.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	24. The Last Night

Late that night, Lily was trying to fall asleep, but she just somehow couldn't calm down enough to get tired because she knew that the games were starting the next day.

She needed a break, just a little time to herself. Once she was sure that everyone was asleep, she snuck through the District 12 rooms and found a back exit that she had not noticed before. Checking to make sure there were no alarms, she slowly opened the door and stepped out.

What she saw almost took her breath away. It was such a beautiful landscape area. She wondered why they had never taken her out there and decided that it was probably because they hardly had any extra time.

There was a small pond surrounded by naturally multicolored stepping stones. On the side was a rock the size of a large dog, the perfect size for sitting on. Lily tiptoed across the stepping stones and sat on the rock. The pond was pretty large, probably about one hundred feet long and fifty feet across. The moon's reflection was shimmery and gorgeous. Lily spotted a few ducks on the far side of the pond.

After a few moments, she heard the door open again and hoped that no one would discover that she had sneaked out. She turned around to see who it was and breathed a sigh of relief that it was only Scorpius.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked him.

"I heard you walking, so I followed you," he replied. "I wanted to see if you were okay."

"No, I'm not. I'm freaking out because the Games are starting tomorrow!"

He sat down on the rock next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, it'll be okay. I'm sure you'll win. You got one of the highest scores!"

"That doesn't mean anything. It just means that I got lucky when I saw the judges. You'll probably win. You can run faster than anyone I know."

"But I got a low score!" He paused for a second before continuing. "Wow, we're actually arguing about this." He took back his arms. "You know what?"

Lily wiped her now-teary eyes and said, "What?"

"We should be allies once the game starts. There's no one I'd rather be partners with, and together, one of us might win the games."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

Scorpius turned and looked Lily in the eyes. "Have you been crying?" he asked. She reluctantly nodded her head. "Why?" he asked.

"I'm so scared for the Games tomorrow. There are twenty-four people going in there, and twenty-three of them aren't going to make it." This caused her to burst into tears even more. She hugged Scorpius as tightly as she could. "I can't believe this happened to us. I just can't believe it!"

He hugged her back as tight as he could.

"Don't worry. Everything will work out just fine," Scorpius said.

"How do you know that?"

"I just do, okay?"

"But what about Albus and James and Rose and Hugo and my parents and aunts and uncles? What about your parents and grandparents?"

Scorpius brushed away Lily's tears, but she just put her head down and smiled. "Just like I said, everything will be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." There was a moment of silence. "During the games, we can work together, be allies. I'll protect you, no matter what. I'll always protect you. I've never told you this, but I really like you."

"I really like you, too," Lily replied.

"No, I mean that I _really_ like you, more than a friend."

"I like you that way, too."

Lily blinked the tears out of her eyes so she could see more clearly. Then she lifted her face to see Scorpius smiling. They made eye contact for a few seconds, which seemed like forever, before coming closer to each other. They grew closer and closer and closer, and their lips met. After a moment, they parted, each with a smile on their face.

"You'll be there to protect me?" asked Lily.

"Always," Scorpius replied. "Now let's go inside before they wake up and see that we're gone."

The next morning, Susana let them sleep in an hour later than the previous day, but nevertheless, it was earlier than during the school year.

"Wake up, you sleepyhead!" she said to Lily at six-thirty in the morning. "It's almost time for the Hunger Games to start! Just a few more hours!" While Susana was creepily enthusiastic about it, Lily was just as scared as she was the previous night. "You'll train for a few hours, and then you'll change into your outfits for the games, receive instructions, and start!"

Reluctantly Lily got out of bed, hoping that she was ready for the Games to start.

* * *

**Note: Susana is an OC.**

**Sorry it took so long to update! I meant to update it within a week, but it's been nine days. I'll try to update the next chapter more quickly.**

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!**


	25. To the Arena

There were a few hours to train in their private district training room before the Hunger Games actually started, but Lily and Scorpius were so nervous that they couldn't concentrate on anything. At last, it was time to go back to their tribute area for the last time to get ready for the Games. As their trainers and stylists frantically ran around getting ready, Scorpius and Lily had some moments together.

"So," said Scorpius, "we have one hour before we're on TV to the whole country, maybe for the rest of our lives."

"Scorpius," Lily replied, "don't say things like that. It freaks me out."

"I'm sorry." He hugged her. "Everything will be okay. I'll keep you safe."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Scorpius then kissed Lily on the cheek, which made her giggle a little.

At that point, they quickly broke out of their hug because Susana frantically ran into the room.

"Oh, good! There you are!" Susana said a little too enthusiastically. "I found them!" she yelled out into the hall, and moments later, the stylists came running in. Susana continued, "You are going to change into your tribute outfits that you'll wear for the Games, and then we'll send you to the arena to start the Games!"

"But we have almost an hour before it actually starts!" said Lily.

"By the time we change and get there, we'll have about forty minutes left, and then they go though instructions about a half hour before it starts, and then you'll just wait the rest of the time."

"Oh, okay."

"Now, now more wasting time! You have to get into your outfits now!"

After a few minutes, they were both changed into sleek black sweatpants and black shirts that had the District 12 symbol on the back.

"Don't worry if you look silly," said Susana once they exited their dressing rooms. "Every tribute will have the exact same outfit except with their own district's symbol on the back."

Although Lily didn't feel badly dressed, she was glad that for once, her looks weren't being constantly compared to the other tributes.

"Follow me!" Susana said. "There's a car out there waiting for us! The stylists will have to stay here because there's not enough room in the car."

Scorpius and Lily, holding hands, followed Susana out the back entrance of the District 12 rooms to the area where Lily and Scorpius were the previous night.

"The area back here is so pretty," said Susana. "I wish we had some free time so you could relax a bit and come out here, but they just scheduled it with so many activities that there was simply no time." They walked around the back of the building to a sleek black car. Susana opened the back door. "Get in, you two! I'll be in the front seat, but you can just both sit in the back."

After they got in the car, they rode for about ten or fifteen minutes before they arrived in an underground parking lot. Lily guessed that the Capitol didn't want to give away the location of the arena until the Games were over.

They got out of the car and walked through the small parking lot until they entered through gray-tinted glass doors. On the other side, there were twelve doors, each one with a different number on it. They entered the one on the far right with a large 12 for their district. Inside, there were some chairs, a couch, and a television.

"In about ten minutes," Susana said as they nervously sat down on the chairs and couch, "they'll call all the tributes to a different room to give instructions and to start the Hunger Games!"

As usual, Susana's voice made the Games sound much more exciting and pleasant than what they were actually going to be. Lily suddenly realized that she would miss Susana's overly excited tone of voice about everything she said, even though she hadn't even known Susana for two whole days.

"Until then," continued Susana, interrupting Lily's train of thoughts, "we can just sit here and watch the pre-game show, if that's even the right phrase for it. That's what they say for sports, so I guess you could say that for the Hunger Games."

"What are they showing?" asked Lily as Scorpius reached for the remote control to turn it on.

"They have interviews with the people who designed this year's Games and with some of the stylists and trainers. Unfortunately, no one from District 12's team got invited to be interviewed, but that's how it is with everything. We're the last district, so of course we don't get to do anything special with the first few districts," Susana replied.

As the television turned on, just as Susana said, the District 1 stylist was at an interview with famous talk show host Alfred Penn, and they were discussing the tributes' outfits that they wore for the interview and the tribute parade.

After several minutes of absentmindedly listening to that, an announcement came on ceiling speakers, so Scorpius fumbled for the remote to turn off the TV as the speaker said, "All tributes, please come to the designated underground area to start the Games." The speaker repeated this two more times before going silent.

"Uh, Susana," said Lily nervously, "we don't know where that is."

"No worries! I'll show you!"

They exited their district room and went into an unmarked door to the left of all the tribute doors, where they saw twenty-two vicious-looking tributes and a Capitol person standing at the front.

"I can't go in there, so goodbye, you two!" She gave them both a large hug before leaving them alone with the others.

Scorpius looked at Lily and gave her hand a squeeze of good luck. It was almost time to start the first annual Hunger Games.

* * *

**I am so sorry that it has taken this long to get the next chapter up. I was out of town for a week and a half without my computer, and then I just never really got around to writing it. I'll really try to be a lot faster at updating the rest of the chapters, but I can't guarantee anything.**

**Note: All the characters in this chapter except for Scorpius and Lily are OC's.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	26. The Rules

"Alright, everyone, settle down! It's time to start instructions," the Capitol lady at the front of the room said. " My name is Stacey, and I am one of the head designers for this year's arena. First, I need everyone to line up by district along the back wall."

Everyone scrambled into position, Scorpius and Lily at the end of the line as usual. A second woman from the Capitol that they hadn't noticed before walked up to the first person in line, holding a big needle.

Stacey continued, "Linda, another arena designer, will inject each of you with a tracker so that we know where you are in the arena at all times. Don't worry. It doesn't hurt for more than a few seconds. You need a tracker so we know which cameras to activate. You will not know where the cameras are. They are hidden within the scenery of the arena. Anything you do may be seen by the people watching at home, so don't do anything that you do not want to show to the whole country."

By that time, Linda reached Lily, who held out her arm. Just like Stacey said, it only hurt for a few seconds.

"Now it's time to go over the rules of the Games," said Stacey. "As you might be able to guess from the nature of the Games, there aren't that many rules. After we're done in here, you'll be sent to an individual areas to go into the arena. There, you'll be on sort of a circular platform, so to speak. All the plates will be arranged in a huge circle, one for each tribute. You cannot leave it for sixty seconds. There will be a countdown, so no guessing will be necessary. If you choose to leave the platform before the time is up, there are mines in the ground around each platform, and there is no question of what will happen then. On the inside of that circle of platforms, there will be a large cornucopia. Inside will be weapons and supplies that could be helpful for the games. The arena itself is a circle with a diameter of about five kilometers."

_Wow_, thought Lily, _I thought the arena would be the size of a baseball diamond, but this is huge!_

"In addition to these supplies," continued Stacey, "sponsors can send you much-needed food, medicine, et cetera. As you already know, you guys will fight until one person remains. However, if you wish, you are allowed to form alliances with other people during the games, keeping in mind that only one can win. That's it, so since we're done with the tracker injections, it's almost time to start the Games! Please go back to your district rooms, and from there you will be sent into the arena. Thank you!"

Scorpius squeezed Lily's hand before leaving to their room.

"Oh, is it time to get in position already?" asked Susana in her usually cheerful voice once they got there. "Well, then, follow me. Right back here." She led them to two doors in the back that Lily had not noticed before. Scorpius, you're supposed to go in the one on the left, and Lily, you go in the one on the right." Lily walked to her door and tentatively put her hand on the handle. "Go on, then! I'll be in to talk to each of you before the Games start. Don't worry."

Lily slowly turned the doorknob and found herself in a long, winding passageway. The floor was white tile, and the walls and ceiling were also white. There were bright ceiling lights every ten feet or so. Lily followed the hallway until she reached another door. She took a deep breath and opened it.

Inside the room, there was a woman from the Capitol holding a shiny white clipboard and a wide glass tube that ran from the white tile floor to the ceiling. The tube was just big enough for a person to fit in, and there was a door in the side.

"You're Lily Potter from District 12?" asked the Capitol woman.

"Yes," replied Lily.

"I'm Rita Emerson."

"Nice to meet you." There was a short pause. "I suppose I should step in the tube, then?" asked Lily.

"Yes, you should do that, but you can wait for…" she paused to look at her clipboard, "Susana to come if you want. She should be here momentarily. You can sit in that chair if you want to wait for her." She pointed to a polished white chair in the corner that Lily had not noticed upon entering.

Nervously, Lily crossed the room to the chair, but right as she sat down, Susana burst into the room, so Lily immediately stood back up.

"You only have three minutes. Why are you sitting down?" asked Susana frantically.

"Sorry. She said that I could wait for you if I wanted," replied Lily.

Susana ran to Lily and hugged her. "I just want you to know," said Susana, "that I will be rooting for you the whole time, and don't forget that."

This made Lily feel better. "Thanks."

"Oh, I forgot to give this to you." Susana pulled a long, thin brown stick out of her pocket that Lily recognized as her wand.

"It's my w—my lucky stick. I like to keep it with me for good luck."

"Scorpius has one too. It must be a British thing. He asked for it when I met with him and said that you would like yours, too. I spoke with one of the arena designers and got it approved. Everyone's allowed to keep one thing from their home, but it has to get approved. They did tell me to tell you that it won't work as well in the arena and that you will not get penalized for using it outside of school, whatever that means. It's not like it actually does anything. They probably just mean that nothing works as well in the arena. Anyway, here you go."

"Thank you so much!" Lily hugged Susana again as she took her wand.

Just then, a warning announcement came over the loudspeaker saying, "Attention, tributes. One minute before you enter into the arena. One minute."

Susana broke away from her hug. "You better get inside that tube, Lily. I sincerely wish the best of luck to you."

"Bye, Susana! I'll miss you!"

Lily got inside the tube right as the thirty-second warning came on. After several agonizing moments of silence, the tube started to raise Lily into the arena.

* * *

**Note: All the characters in this chapter are OC's except for Lily and Scorpius.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in the next week or two.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	27. Let the Games Begin!

Nothing could've prepared Lily for what she saw in the arena. As her head rose above ground level, she first saw what she expected—twenty-three other tributes in the same outfit, all rising on platforms on hers.

In the middle of the huge circle of tributes was a ginormous gold cornucopia, overflowing with weapons, food items, unlabeled bags, and much more that Lily couldn't make out.

She saw Scorpius rise up seven people to her left. He had his wand at the ready, but Lily was dangling hers at her side.

She looked up and saw that there was a countdown from sixty seconds projected on the cloudless blue sort of hologram dome while someone's voice—certainly a Capitol person's—could be heard loudly and clearly saying the numbers.

What Lily had not been expecting, however, was the scenery around her. To her far right was a fast-moving stream about fifteen feet wide, and she could see some fish jumping, but that was the most normal part of her view. The landscape stretched so far that Lily could not see where it ended, and every bit of it was covered in half-torn-down brick buildings.

Buildings of all different sizes, made entirely of bricks, were falling apart, some with just a few missing, others with only half a floor left. Around these buildings, the ground was covered in half-dead grass with a few weeds here and there.

It took so long for Lily to start taking it all in that she suddenly realized that there were only fourteen seconds left in the countdown. She looked at the cornucopia and then looked at the other tributes, and she knew that she had to make a quick decision whether to risk getting hurt but get necessary materials or to be safe but have no supplies.

Lily went back and forth in her mind for several seconds, and then she noticed that almost all of the tributes looked like they wanted what the cornucopia had to offer, so she chose the latter and decided that she would rather have no supplies than risk getting killed in the first moments of the Games.

Then she suddenly became aware of the announcer's voice.

"Three… Two… One…"

A loud horn sounded, and the countdown in the sky disappeared.

"Let the first annual Hunger Games begin!"

Without second thought, Lily ran in the opposite direction of the cornucopia past a few buildings until she stopped in one near the stream that had barely been destroyed. She cautiously stood on her toes and peered through a small opening just above her head.

It seemed as though only one other tribute, a boy about sixteen years old, decided to run away without getting anything. Lily could see him sprinting through the buildings, but she couldn't see where he stopped.

Both Scorpius and a young girl around twelve years old decided to grab a bag near the outer edge of the cornucopia at random and then run. Scorpius got away unscathed, but the little girl was slower and got shot with an arrow before she could even reach a building.

Lily saw several other people get hurt and fall down. Many people ran away, and after a few minutes, the only tributes left standing there were a few large, tough-looking guys and girls from the first few districts, and they were standing like they owned the place.

After a few moments, Lily heard a voice.

"Hey."

It startled her so much that it almost made her scream until she turned around and saw who it was.

"Scorpius, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry. I just wanted to keep my promise to protect you, so I got this bag." He held up the small brown backpack that he got from the cornucopia.

"Whoa, how did you get that?"

Scorpius just looked at her with that smug grin he inherited from his father.

After a second, Lily exclaimed, "You got it from the cornucopia?"

"Yep!"

"How'd you get out of there? I was watching them until you got here, and it's a complete bloodbath over there. When they blew the horn, I just ran away."

"Well," he admitted, "it was pretty close to me, so I just grabbed it and ran."

"That's still really cool," said Lily admiringly.

"Thanks."

"So what's in it? Medicine? Weapons? Food?" asked Lily eagerly.

"To be honest, I haven't opened it yet," Scorpius replied.

"Well, let's open it, then!"

Lily grabbed the bag and unzipped it as fast as she could, eagerly wanting to see what it contained.

Inside the backpack, there was a small knife, a box of Band-Aids, some stone arrowheads, and a thin blanket.

"Hey, not bad, Scorpius."

"Thanks, I guess."

"So, who gets the knife?"

Scorpius thought about it for a second, and then said, "You got a really high score from the judges by throwing knives, so you should get it."

"Thanks," she said as she smiled, "but you can keep it in the bag for now because we'll be staying together most of the time."

"Okay." He put it back in the bag as she mimed throwing a knife and tried to remember how she did it last time.

Suddenly, and against all probability, three careers appeared right next to Lily and Scorpius—the boy and girl from District 1 and the boy from District 3. All looked very tough, very muscular, at least seventeen. Lily could tell that they wanted to kill her and Scorpius. Lily gulped.

"Stay behind me," said Scorpius frantically as he tried to grab Lily's arm, but he was too slow.

The boy from District 1 grabbed Lily by the collar of her shirt and picked her up. "Thought you could hide from us, didn't you?" he said coldly. He was so close that Lily could feel his breath. She struggled, but it was no use. He was too strong. "You thought you and your boyfriend could just run away and wait for the rest of us to die on our own, didn't you?"

Lily mumbled, "Put me down," but he didn't seem to hear. She could feel him tightening his grip.

"Didn't you?!" he yelled to her face. Lily repeated her mumble a little louder, but he still didn't pay attention. "You know," he continued, "you two talk so _loudly_ that it's a wonder how people didn't find and kill you already before we got here." He tightened his grip again. "Luckily for you," he said as Lily saw him pull out a knife, "you don't have to worry about talking much longer."

"Expelliarmus!" Scorpius yelled, his wand pointed at them. Lily fell to the ground as the careers looked bewildered. "You never—and I mean NEVER—mess with her, you understand me?"

"I'm sorry about your little girlfriend, but what are you going to do with that? Poke me?"

"Stupefy!" Scorpius yelled, but the career only stumbled backwards a few steps. "Why isn't it working? That's usually my best spell," he discretely said to Lily.

"Susana said they wouldn't work as well in the arena," she replied, hoping that the careers wouldn't take advantage of them pausing for a side conversation.

"You think that stick could make me fall over with your magic words? Well, you're wrong." He picked up Scorpius by the collar. "I am going to win these games," he said into Scorpius' face, "but you two are so pathetic that I won't even bother wasting time to kill you. You'll die on your own." He threw Scorpius to the ground and winked at Lily, who wasn't looking. "See ya round, sugar." Then he and his friends walked away like nothing happened.

* * *

**I have sort of a dilemma on what to write. I don't want there to be two victors because that's too much like the Hunger Games book, but I don't want to kill off Scorpius or Lily. If you have suggestions, please PM me or leave a review!**

**Note: All characters in this chapter are OC's except for Lily and Scorpius.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	28. The First Night

After the encounter with the careers, knowing that they would be looking for them, Lily and Scorpius immediately decided to run as far away as possible once the careers were out of sight.

They wanted to stay by the river to be able to have water and fish to eat, but they were near the edge of the arena. Lily wondered how far until they were out of bounds or reached the edge or a wall or whatever the end of the arena looked like.

They decided not to talk unless if it was necessary just in case if someone heard them and attacked, just like when the careers heard them and almost killed Lily, which is why they decided to run away from the center of the arena.

For the rest of the evening, they sat in silence and ate fish that they cooked over a fire with as little smoke as they could. Luckily, the building they decided to stay in had most of a ceiling, so they were able to hide most of the smoke that came from the fire. They also occasionally heard the loud boom of a cannon, but neither of them saw a cannon anywhere in the arena, so they guessed that it was a noise added by the Capitol people designing the Games.

The action for the rest of the evening must have been in another part of the arena because neither of them could hear or see any other tributes. Around nightfall, they were fishing for some more fish to eat.

"Accio fish!" said Lily quietly, giggling. Their wands didn't work as well as they would in school because of protective enchantments in the arena, but this spell was strong enough to make a fish flop out of water onto the grass by her feet. They wanted to catch a few and keep them just in case if they couldn't get back to the river. As Lily caught them, Scorpius cut them with the knife that he got out of the small backpack from the cornucopia, and then he used a spell on each one so that they would stay fresh for days on end.

Then they noticed that the lighting changed in the arena. Lily looked up and tapped Scorpius' arm.

"Hey, look up," she said.

He did and replied, "Whoa."

In the sky, there was a picture for every tribute who died during the day, including the ones who died in the cornucopia when the Hunger Games started. It included their picture, name, and district. Thirteen people died that day, eight of which happened during the cornucopia bloodbath. Eleven were left, including Lily and Scorpius.

"That could be us," said Lily, fear in her eyes.

"No, you shouldn't say those things," replied Scorpius.

"But it's true, isn't it? At least one of our pictures will be up there."

"But it might not be best to—"

Lily cut him off. "The conversation topic was bound to come up anyway. We couldn't avoid it forever. Only one of us can get out, Scorpius. That's fact. Let's just man up and face the truth. We both won't get out alive."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked her.

"Doing what?" she asked.

"Talking about death. _Our_ death. You're just scaring yourself more. I don't want you to be scared."

"Only one can get out, Scorpius."

"And I'll make sure it's you, Lily."

Lily turned to look at Scorpius, and he saw a tear in her eye. He was right. She was just scaring herself more than anything.

"I'm scared, Scorpius," she said finally, after a long period of silence.

"Don't worry. I'm keeping my promise to protect you no matter what. I'll make sure you get out of the Hunger Games alive."

Lily had heard him talk about this many times before, but he never worded it this way. "But that means you—"

"Don't worry," Scorpius told Lily once again, gingerly taking her face in his hands. "I'll make sure you get out alive." He kissed her on the nose, which actually made her smile a little, despite their unfortunate circumstances.

They sat down and leaned against each other. After another silent moment, once she had time to calm down a little, Lily asked, "How long will it last?"

"What do you mean?" he replied. "How long will what last?"

"The Games. Us. How long will it last? How long will all of this last?" She gestured to the arena around her.

"I have no idea.

Another pause.

"So you'll really protect me?" she asked once again.

"Absolutely," Scorpius replied.

"How?"

"What?"

"How will you protect me?"

To be honest, Scorpius hadn't really thought of that until she asked.

"Um, that hadn't really occurred to me," he admitted. "I guess I'll try to keep you away from the other tributes as much as I can. I can run fast, and you can climb, so I guess we'll combine our talents to keep you as safe as I can."

Then she hugged him. He didn't expect it, and it was just a hug, but it meant more to him than the whole world.

"What do you suppose we do now?" Lily asked after their hug ended.

"Well, the sun's going down, so we should probably go to sleep," Scorpius replied.

"Yes, I suppose your right. With the spell you put on them, these fish should stay fresh for at least a few more days. We don't have to worry about not having food for a while, so we don't have to do any more fishing tonight."

Scorpius pulled the thin blanket out of the backpack. He examined it for a moment before giving it to Lily.

"It's too small for both of us," he said, "so I think you should have it tonight."

"Are you sure?" He nodded, so she took the blanket from him. "Thanks. You can have it tomorrow night if you want."

They walked back into the partially destroyed brick building, and Lily wrapped up in the blanket and fell asleep almost immediately, Scorpius soon after, and they both slept peacefully to the night.

* * *

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a week or two.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	29. The Final Problem

The following morning, Lily woke with a bang. Literally. Another tribute had died, the first one since before she fell asleep, and therefore, the sound of a cannon rang through the entire arena. Rubbing her eyes, she slowly sat up and smelled something strong and overwhelming. "What's that smell?" she asked as Scorpius quickly turned around and smiled at her.

"Doesn't it smell great?" he asked.

"No, it smells like raw fish," she replied, holding her nose with one hand and fanning the smell away with the other.

"That's because I'm cooking you a fish for breakfast," he said as he motioned next to him, and Lily saw that Scorpius was cooking fish above a smokeless fire that he conjured using a spell that he learned in charms class. After a moment, he took the fish—which was held up by a simple levitation charm, Wingardium Leviosa—off the fire and started walking toward Lily.

As he got next to her, he was about to set the fish on the ground, but she said, "Wait." She then took out her wand, which she slipped up her pant leg overnight so it wouldn't get lost or stolen, and chanted an incantation that disinfected the ground. "Now you can put it down."

Scorpius did so. Then he responded, "I forgot about that spell."

"It's not that hard," Lily replied, "but I guess it can be hard to remember for you since it's been several years since you've learned it, but only one or two for me."

"Well that was a nice surprise."

"What was?" Lily asked, bewildered.

"That I don't have to make up any excuses. You can just do that for me. From now on, you are my official Assistant Excuse-Maker."

"Oh, ha ha, very funny."

"I try my best."

"It's not even an excuse," said Lily after a moment.

"And why not?" replied Scorpius.

"It's not an excuse if it's true."

"Hey, you are good at this stuff. Keep it up, and I just might promote you to Executive Excuse-Maker."

Lily genuinely laughed at this. "For someone who's usually pretty serious and protective, you can certainly be a joker sometimes."

"Can't I, though? I just like to excel at whatever I'm good at, or in this case, _great_ at."

"Yep, definitely a joker. You should talk to my Uncle George sometime. He plays pranks on everybody, and he said once that he did it more often when he was a kid if it's even possible to prank more often than he does. When he's not pranking, he's always making jokes about everything. You two would certainly get along."

"He sounds hilarious."

"He is."

"Is he a Weasley?"

"Yep. George Weasley, one of the greatest pranksters to ever step foot in Hogwarts. Headmaster McGonagall has said it several times to me. She's been at Hogwarts _forever_ and has probably seen boatloads of pranksters, so if she says it, she must be right."

"Then my dad would probably hate him."

"Why?"

"Because he's a Weasley."

"Oh, don't worry about that. It's no big deal."

"You think so?" asked Scorpius.

"Yeah. It's just a bit of childhood rivalry, that's all. Besides, if there's any Weasley that your dad has a grudge against, it's my Uncle Ron. I've heard enough stories from him to know that he disliked Ron the most, so it can't be nearly as bad as that," said Lily.

"That's a little reassuring, at least. Hey, you should eat your fish before it gets cold."

Lily gingerly picked it up and took a bite out of the side. "Mmm," she said, her mouth full of fish. "This is really good. Even better than the ones we had last night!"

"Was that an insult to my cooking last night?"

"No, it was an insult to _my_ cooking," she replied, "because I helped you with it, but today you just made it on your own."

Scorpius smiled to himself. "I do have many talents." After a short pause, he added, "I appreciate your accreditation to my being one of the most intelligent, handsome, and talented people that you have ever even heard of. Maybe I should keep you around for a while."

Lily giggled, but that last sentence made her happy beyond belief. She didn't want him to know just how much it meant, even if he was just joking around. She then tried to diffuse the tension by replying, "I only said that you are funny and that you can cook. I never said that you were talented above everything."

"I know what I heard."

She laughed a lot louder this time before instantly shushing herself. Hurriedly, Lily finished the last few bites of her fish. She quickly picked up her blanket, stuffed it in the brown backpack from the cornucopia, and took out the knife. She zipped up the backpack and slung it over her shoulder, knife in one hand, wand in the other.

"Where are you going?" asked Scorpius, who was sitting on the ground by the now doused-out fire, eating his fish.

"Finish it quickly."

"What? Why?"

"We shouldn't stay in one place too long. The other tributes might smell the fish or hear us talk or something. We need to keep moving so it's harder for them to hunt us down."

Scorpius took one last bite, wiped his mouth, and stood up, grabbing his wand. "What makes you so formal sounding all of a sudden? It must've been the fish."

"No, it wasn't the fish. I laughed really loudly and remembered last night when the careers found us because we were talking too loud. It was so scary, and I don't want anything like that to happen again."

"Fair enough. Let's get going!"

Soon after they started walking, they heard five cannon booms. Scorpius said, "Eleven were left last night. One died this morning, and now that's five more. That means that there are five left. Not including us, there are three."

"Three of them are still out there."

"Exactly."

Just then, they walked into a clearing and saw five dead careers, and in the center of them was another career, alive, holding a spear. It was Benny Johnson, the male tribute from District 1. Luckily, he was facing the other way, so Scorpius grabbed Lily and dragged her behind the nearest brick wall just before he turned in their direction. Lily slowly peeked out and saw that it was the same career who grabbed her the previous day.

"He must've betrayed his friends and killed them," Lily whispered.

"He would've had to do it eventually," replied Scorpius in an equally quiet voice. "I guess he just thought that now would be a good time."

Just then, they heard a hovering noise, like a very large helicopter was landing nearby. This time, both Lily and Scorpius looked around the wall and saw that Benny Johnson was running in the opposite direction. Above the clearing, a large ship from the Capitol was raising up the bodies.

"What are they doing?" Scorpius asked.

"They must take all the dead bodies out of the arena once they die," replied Lily.

"Why haven't we seen the ships before?"

"Now that I think of it, I don't think either of us have been around the other tributes _after_ they died. We haven't been around that many tributes at all, really, but how do they know when we die and if we're not actually unconscious or knocked out?"

"It must be the tracking chips," Scorpius replied. "The ones they injected before the Games started. I bet they have detectors in there that constantly check our vitals."

"Yeah, that must be it."

Suddenly, Scorpius had an idea. "Hey, do you know if you could see the actual tracker in the needle they injected us with? I didn't watch when it went in."

"Yeah, I think I saw a little blue chip in there."

"That's all I need to know."

"What do you need to know it for?"

"You know last night when you asked me how I was going to protect you during the Games?"

"Yeah, but why—"

"I think I just got the answer," said Scorpius.

"What? What answer? What's the answer?" she asked.

"I'm not even going to tell you, Potter. You'll find out soon enough."

"Um, okay. Whatever that means, I guess."

"By the way," said Scorpius, "Have I ever told you that I can hold my breath for a long time?"

"No…" said Lily, who was confused, as to why he brought this up.

"I can usually hold it for about four minutes and forty five seconds, but my personal record is five minutes and twenty four seconds. I've had competitions with my friends, and no one I've met can beat me.

"I certainly can't beat you. I'm usually around two minutes, but I haven't timed it ever. Why are you telling me this?"

"I just thought of it and decided to say it. There's no real reason in particular."

"Oh. Okay, I guess." After a moment, Lily added, "Do you want to just camp here for tonight?"

"But don't you think that the remaining career might come back?"

"No. There's nothing left here. He probably moves around to try to find the other tributes. He didn't even notice us here. He won't come back. Besides, this is right by the stream." They put down their stuff, fished a little, and then just sat and talked quietly for the rest of the day.

Around dinnertime, when they were eating some more fish, which both Lily and Scorpius had gotten tired of eating at this point, they heard another boom of the cannon. "Two tributes left besides us," said Scorpius.

"Wow, really? That's it?" Lily asked. Scorpius nodded. "That went a lot faster than I had imagined."

"I guess it's hard to imagine how fast it goes if we haven't seen it before. Besides, it depends on the specific group of people more than the size or landscape of the arena."

"True. Do you think Benny is the one who was killed?"

"Who?"

"Benny Johnson. He was the career that we saw alive in the clearing over there. He killed the other tributes."

"Oh, him. I doubt he died. He's too tough for that. He probably is the one who's doing all the killing."

"Do you think he'll find us?" asked Lily after a short pause.

"Who, Benny? No, I think we'll be fine for a while, at least."

"Attention, tributes," an announcer's voice rang throughout the entire arena.

"What's that?" Lily asked Scorpius. He had no idea and just shrugged.

"Tonight at sundown," the voice continued, "you will find three bags on a table near the cornucopia. Each one has a different number on it for the districts that you are from. You are only to take the one with your district number on it. The bag with your district contains something that you need, and it will not be available long after sundown. That is all."

"I wonder what it is that they think we need," said Lily.

"I don't know, but why is it available for such a short time?" he replied.

"They probably are trying to get us all into one area at the same time to get the Games to go faster, so should we go?"

"I'll go."

"Scorpius, you can't. You'll get hurt, and we've already had more than our fair share of close calls and near death experiences."

"I'm faster than you, and I'd rather have something happen to me than you. Besides, if we don't get whatever they think we need, they'll make it a lot harder to get later."

"Scorpius, please—"

"Lily, please don't try to stop me," he said firmly, taking her face in his hands. "I'm going no matter what. We need whatever's in that bag."

"At least take the knife," she said, finally deciding that it was no good to argue.

"Sure, where is it?"

"In the backpack," she replied, unzipping the bag and handing it to him.

"Thanks." He looked up at the sky. "It's almost sundown. I should get going." He had the knife in one hand, his wand in the other, and started walking toward the cornucopia. Lily took a few steps following him.

"Don't follow me. It's too dangerous."

"I'll hide and watch. I want to make sure you're okay."

"Fine. I guess I can't stop you, but please be careful. Stay behind me. You have the wand?"

"Yeah, and I have the backpack, too."

They crept through the buildings, watching the sun get closer and closer to the horizon, until they made it to the clearing where the cornucopia was.

"You only have about a minute until the bags should appear," said a distressed Lily.

"I know," Scorpius replied, getting more nervous by the second but trying to appear calm.

"Promise me that you'll be careful."

"I'll do what I have to."

"Okay." Lily looked around the wall and saw the bags on a table rising from the ground. The bag on the left had a large twelve on it, the bag in the middle had a seven, and the bag on the right had a big one. Lily hugged him tight, fearing that it may be their last embrace. Then she kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Holding both his wand and the knife, Scorpius stepped into the clearing. He was the first one. All of a sudden, he burst into a run toward the table. Just before he got there, a large spear hit the top of the shoulder, right where it meets the neck. Scorpius fell face first to the ground. He clutched his where the spear hit and turned onto his back. Lily could see that he was bleeding—badly.

Just as this happened. Benny, the male tribute from District 1, grabbed his bag and picked up his spear from the ground. He spotted Charlotte Benson—the District 7 female tribute, who was tall, lean, and muscular—and threw his knife at her right when she pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back and shot it at him. The spear hit the dead center of her neck, puncturing her trachea and preventing her from breathing. The arrow hit his heart, killing him almost instantly.

Lily then ran out to Scorpius, who was using his knife to dig where the spear hit him. "Scorpius, stop that! What are you doing? Scorpius, stop! You'll just make yourself bleed faster! You're losing blood fast enough."

After a few moments, he stopped and looked up at Lily and smiled. "Whatever happens, Lily," he said as he smiled at her, tears rushing from her eyes, "I want you to know that I love you." She kissed him, and then as she backed away, his eyes closed, and he stopped breathing. Then three ships appeared in the sky to take away Scorpius and the other two tributes.

"Goodbye," she said, tears streaming from her eyes.

As the bodies were taken away, a voice rang out through the arena. "Congratulations, Lily Potter!" the voice said. "You are the victor of the first annual Hunger Games!"

* * *

**There is a ****big**** plot twist coming up, which I am ****_super_**** excited about! I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a week or two.**

**Note: All the tributes except for Lily and Scorpius are OC's.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	30. Victor

As the flying ships containing the other tributes left, a fourth flying ship appeared, but this time, it was longer and more elegant; it was something that a winner would ride in rather than a loser. The ship hovered in place, and a silver ladder was lowered to Lily. She climbed onto the bottom rung, and the ladder was raised.

Inside the ship, there were several doctors, surgeons, and other medical personnel from the Capitol. The head doctor asked Lily to lie down on a cot. As she did that, another doctor injected her with a long needle, causing her to pass out. Hours later, she woke up, all her injuries mended by the doctors.

The next few hours were a blur to her. They helped her off of the ship and into a private room where they insisted that she rest for a while. After a quick nap, she woke to a squealing Susana, who was there with the stylists. She was to be on TV with the famous talk show host Alfred Penn, who interviewed her before the Games started. After changing into a pale gold dress and white stiletto heels and getting her hair done by the stylists with two gold-speckled white feathers sticking out, Lily and Susana were driven in a limo to the studio where Alfred's show was filmed.

They walked into the backstage entrance and saw two very unexpected people.

"Lily!" Professor McGonagall called. Lily turned and saw the headmaster of Hogwarts waiting there for her. She ran and hugged McGonagall. Next to her was Professor Tuffin, the headmaster of the Panem School of Magic.

"Professor McGonagall, Professor Tuffin, what are you doing here?" Lily asked.

"As soon as they announced you as the winner, we were invited to join you backstage at the studio, so of course we said yes," said Professor McGonagall. "They also invited—"

Her words were cut off by a slamming door behind her. "Lily!" she heard her name again. She turned around and saw James, Albus, Rose, and Hugo. She ran up to them and hugged each one in turn.

"We were rooting for you the whole time," said Rose.

"Were you… Were you guys watching?" asked Lily, nervous.

"Of course! They had a large screen set up in the Dining Hall so the whole school could watch you," Rose responded. Lily gulped. "You're nervous about your school watching you but not when the whole country was watching?" Rose continued.

"I don't know," replied Lily. "I guess everything hasn't really set in yet. Besides, after that, I don't really know what's normal anymore."

Suddenly, there was a loud _crack_ from the other side of the room. Lily turned and saw her parents Harry and Ginny, who had just apparated into the studio. Without second thought, Lily ran across the room and hugged them tighter than she had ever hugged them before.

"Sorry we're late," Ginny said to her daughter, who was still hugging her. "It took a while for Professor McGonagall's invite to get all the way to us."

Lily didn't stop embracing them as she said, "No you're just in time."

A woman who worked for the studio briskly approached them and said, "Lily Potter, you're on in one minute. Friends and family, we have reserved seats in the audience for you."

Lily backed away as she asked her mom, "Is my hair messed up?"

Ginny straightened the feathers a bit and said, "It looks perfect. You better get going so you're not late." The person who approached them moments ago took Lily to the stage door that she recognized too well as another worker took Lily's two headmasters, her parents, her siblings, and her cousins to the door that led to the audience.

After a few moments, Lily heard Alfred Penn talking into the cameras. "And now," he said, "I am pleased to present the victor of the first annual Hunger Games, Lily Potter!" The audience burst into cheers.

The stagehand opened the door. "That's your cue," she said.

Lily walked onto the stage, smiling and waving at the audience, trying to conceal the inner trauma of the previous few days. Alfred stood up and shook her hand before offering her the seat in front of him.

"Thank you, thank you. Calm down now. Calm down," Alfred said to the audience as they both sat down. "Now tell me, Lily. How does it feel to be the victor of the first ever Hunger Games?"

"Well, pretty exciting, I guess," she replied, desperately not trying to sound nervous.

"It's always exciting to win a competition, am I right?" He looked at the audience, who burst into cheers again. He quickly calmed them down with a wave of his hand. He continued, "We all saw the Games on television, but what was it like actually being in the Hunger Games?"

"Well, it was pretty terrifying, to tell you the truth. I never knew what was around any corner. Anything could happen, as you probably saw when you were watching."

"I'd also like to say that I am in awe of your outfit! Your stylists are really amazing. Fabulous, Lily. I love the feathers."

"Thanks."

"Now, even more important than the Games, there is something that we are all _very_ much interested in. Were you and Scorpius officially a couple? Were you dating before the Games started? How well did you know him before you were chosen as tributes? Were you dating then?" Lily could tell that the audience was getting more and more excited as he asked these questions, but she had no idea how to answer. She didn't want to admit to having feelings for him, but she didn't want to deny what the whole country saw.

"Um…" she said, not sure how to answer.

_Slam!_

The audience gasped, murmured, pointed behind Lily.

She turned around.

Scorpius stood in the doorway to the backstage area.

Lily had to look a second time.

Scorpius walked toward her.

Wait.

_Scorpius _walked toward her.

_Wait_.

Lily stared at him, pinching herself, slapping herself, punching herself.

It had to be a dream.

Scorpius was dead. She saw him being carried away by the Capitol.

Scorpius was dead?

Maybe not…?

Nothing was normal anymore.

Lily squeezed her eyes shut for several seconds and opened them again.

He was still standing there.

_Scorpius_ was still standing there.

It couldn't be real.

"Lily, I'm alive," he said. Lily just stared. "Lily, it's really me. I'm not dead. I'm here. I'm alive. I'm here."

Lily stood up and sprinted toward him, meeting him in a large embrace. One of her feathers fell out of her hair, but she didn't notice or care. Nothing could matter as much as this.

"Well, I guess that answers our question!" said Alfred to the audience, beaming. "This is certainly an interesting plot twist."

Before he could continue, Professor McGonagall ran up on stage from her seat in the front row. "Lily, Scorpius," she said urgently, "leave the stage now, and make sure you're somewhere where no one can see you. Close the door on your way out."

Hand in hand, the two teens darted offstage. The door shut with a bang.

McGonagall pointed her wand straight at Alfred. "Obliviate!" she said, wiping his memory of the past few moments. She then pointed her wand at the audience and repeated the spell, clearing their memories. She did the same to the cameras in order to wipe the memories of anyone watching at home and also of the cameras themselves so that no one can go back and watch the tapes.

She quickly hid her wand and regained her composure as the people around her tried to figure out where they were.

"As a reminder to you all, my student Lily Potter could not be here because of the effects of being in a traumatic situation for the past few days," McGonagall said, lying even though everyone seemed to believe it. "She will not be appearing in front of any audiences until further notice. Thank you."

She got off the stage, got Lily's now-confused relatives, and led them backstage. After obliviating everyone backstage who could have noticed Scorpius run in, she found the two sitting in a janitor closet, waiting for McGonagall to return.

She side-along apparated them to an empty classroom at Panem school of magic. As headmaster, she had special in-school apparating privileges that other teachers and students didn't have.

"Stay right here," McGonagall told them. "Don't go anywhere, and don't let anyone see you. I'll be back with your family."

Within a few minutes, Professor McGonagall appeared again with all of the family members that had been in the audience, along with Lily's Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. Scorpius' parents were also there, who were really confused because they thought their son was dead, but nonetheless, they ran to hug him.

"I obliviated almost all of you," said McGonagall, opening the scene, "but before that happened, Scorpius, who is apparently alive, ran onstage, causing me to change the memories of nearly everyone in the country. Lily, Scorpius, and I are currently the only people to remember what we saw just fifteen minutes ago. Now, Scorpius, could you please explain how you are alive?"

"Um… yeah sure," he said. "Er, where do I start?" He had planned it all out in his head, but he had expected to be alone with Lily. "Well, I don't know how much of it was actually shown on TV, but I asked Lily earlier about whether or not the chip could be found in the injection for tracking people. She said that there was a blue chip in there that she could see, so when I went to get the backpack, I knew that they would see me and try to shoot me, so I planned my run perfectly to hit my arm but not kill me. Then I was digging at my wound with my knife to wait for the blue chip to leave. I figured that once it left my body, it would register me as dead. I also tried to warn Lily earlier when I told her a seemingly random fact—that I could hold my breath for a long time. After the chip left my body, I held my breath and closed my eyes, faking my own death. As soon as I got in the flying ship where no one outside of it could see, I jumped up and held out my wand. There were a bunch of professional Capitol people in there, probably to properly dispose of the bodies, so I stupefied all of them except for the one in charge. I then threatened to do it to her if she didn't fix my arm wound. She looked really scared and agreed to do it if I brought her helpers 'back to life,' as she put it. I did, and then I modified their memories to make them think I threatened them with a knife—"

"You can modify memories?" asked McGonagall. "You don't learn that until seventh year, and many students have trouble with that even in their final year of studying."

"I guess I just like to study ahead," said Scorpius awkwardly. After a short pause, he continued, "After I changed their memories, I quickly put away my wand, and they stitched up my wound." He pulled up his sleeve to show them the stitches. "They said it should heal completely in a few weeks. Luckily, since they only work with dead bodies and not with people who can actually move and fight back, they looked very frightened and agreed to help me. Since then, I fought my way out of the building where we landed, and that just brought me to the interview."

They all stood in silence, thinking about what they had just heard. Draco, Scorpius' father, was the first to respond. "You risked getting in major trouble with the government of possibly the most powerful nation in the world just to be with a teenage crush?" Scorpius looked down to avoid his father's glare but nodded anyway. "That was risky. You can't just go around doing things like that and expect _not_ to get caught! More than anything, we're glad you're alive, but _no more stunts like this_! Understand?" Scorpius nodded again. "We'll talk about this when we get home."

"We're just glad you're alive and safe," said Astoria, Scorpius' mother, who hugged him. Draco joined their hug a moment later. "Did Lily have any part in this?" she asked after the hug broke up.

"No, it was all my idea. She didn't even know I had a plan to do anything like this at all," Scorpius replied. Lily nodded in agreement.

"Now what are we going to do about the people at school?" asked Lily.

McGonagall thought for a second and then said, "We should tell them that he isn't actually dead without explanation and make them all swear to never tell a soul. I'll get the Hogwarts students back to school in England before we reveal him, and we must also swear to not tell the Panem students."

"Can we still contact them, though?" asked Lily, who had befriended an American witch named Audrey.

Professor McGonagall paused for a second before saying, "Yes… but you have to be very careful with what you tell them."

"Okay, thank you. Also, one more thing. As the winner, I officially receive a lifelong supply of food and a fancy house in District 12. Can I give it back? I don't need any of it—or want it, for that matter—and with us going back to Hogwarts, I think it would make sense anyway."

"I'll talk to the people in charge for you," the teacher replied.

"Oh, thank you so much!"

"Anything else you would like to say?"

"Nope. That's it!"

"Okay. I'll go find Professor Tuffin and tell him the plan, leaving out the part about Scorpius being alive."

Once McGonagall left the room, Scorpius' parents wanted a word with them.

"Should we leave?" asked Ginny, Lily's mom.

"No, you can stay. I actually want you to stay. I want to tell you all in person and not have you hear about it later from someone else," replied Astoria.

"We were waiting for a good moment to tell you, but I think that now is that moment," said Draco.

"We were so worried when the Games started because we feared that you might die not knowing, but now you're alive, and we're just so excited to tell you!"

"Well, will you tell them or not?" asked Draco.

Astoria paused dramatically before saying, "We're having a baby!"

"What?" said Scorpius, astounded.

"You're going to have a little brother or sister!" Astoria was clearly bursting to say this since she apparated into the room, and the excitement was spreading. At this point, everyone had a huge smile on their face.

"Wow… I mean, congrats, Mom and Dad! Any names you're looking at?"

"We were thinking Lucius if it's a boy, but we don't have any girl names yet."

"I think Lucius is a wonderful name, Mom," Scorpius said, hugging her. "When's he or she due?"

"At the end of February."

"I can't wait."

McGonagall entered the room again and said that it was time for them to go back to Hogwarts using portkeys. Draco and Astoria told her the good news, and she was then in a delightful mood as well.

Everything was well in the world.

* * *

**First of all, I am SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the SUPER long wait. I had major writers block for most of the time, and school started, so I've had a lot of homework.**

**There's one chapter left after this! I'm excited to finish the story but also sad because I've enjoyed writing it so much.**

**Thanks SO MUCH to FalknerBlue, whose review inspired this chapter and the last chapter. Even though it wasn't exactly like the review, I never would've thought of this without it.**

**I feel like I'm giving a speech at an awards ceremony.**

**I will try SO much harder to get the next chapter posted faster since it's the last chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading! :D**


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